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Ordinary is my favorite kind of time...


Ordinary is my favorite kind of time.  The church year has festivals and really special occasions.  Then there are the days in between.  Once for a children’s moment, I asked two friends to help me.  They are REALLY good friends because they said, “yes,” then asked what they needed to do.  One dressed up like an angel.  The other dressed up like a rabbit.  It was late spring, and the children were not out of school yet, so we had a decent crowd for the children’s moment—that was about 5-10 at our small Missouri church.  I asked the children if they could guess my favorite time of year.  It wasn’t my birthday.  I gave them a hint—a diminutive angel walked down the side aisle very gracefully. No, it wasn’t Christmas.  Then a 6 foot + bunny hopped down the other aisle.  Yep, not kidding! No, it wasn’t time for the Easter Egg hunt.  They gave up. Do you? 

Ordinary time is my favorite time of the church year.  Do you know why?  It is because that is the “living with”   time.  We hear the stories of Jesus living with his friends.  We get to know who he was and how he lived.  We get to think about how Jesus is with us today.  I do love the “big church moments” when we remember the seminal events of our faith, Christmas and Easter,—without them we wouldn’t have those in-between-times.

A very dear friend died unexpectedly last week.  Her family and friends gathered and remembered.  We thought about the fun times, the hilarious moments we said or did crazy things, but it was the quiet times I missed.  I thought about sitting on a balcony watching the waves.  I missed watching 2 periods of Blues Hockey because we couldn’t stay awake.  We’d meet for dinner then drive over to Seventh Street to sit on a porch for 15 minutes and just check in with “the kids.” Those were the Jesus times—the times when we remembered who we were and whose we are.  Yes, the big moments are memorable, but I miss the ordinary time.

Spend some ordinary time with your children/family/friends this summer.  Come to FIG (families in the garden) on Wednesday nights and have a picnic, feed the birds, grow food for the Food Pantry.  You will hear stories of Jesus living with his friends.  You will get to know who he was and how he lived.  You will think about how Jesus is still with us today.  Spend a half hour, forty five minutes, or any amount of time on your way home or after a long day.  Make space for some “in-between-times.”  Those are the Jesus times—the times when we remember who and whose we are.  I’ll see you in the ordinary time, and my very dear friend Shari will be there, too, in spirit.

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