I first discovered the church year when I read Madeleine L'Engle's The Irrational Season during my college years. The concept of the church having a year which contained seasons and holidays made perfect sense to me. Our physical selves crave some kind of progression; why not our spiritual selves?
And my life in Christ has greatly benefited by marking His life in the way I worship and live. Lent, itself, is an important part of that journey. My husband says Easter took on a new powerful meaning after he journeyed through his first Lent and Holy Week.
One of the seasons of the church year is called "ordinary time." I love that. After all the spectacular seasons...Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost. And then "Ordinary Time."
A 3-day weekend wouldn't be special if it were normal. (Though I would like to try it for awhile.) We could hardly tolerate the rituals of Christmas and birthdays if we celebrated them 365 days a year. Our minds and bodies crave routine, even a little boredom now and then. They give us some rest.
Understanding the church year has delivered me of the need to have a fever-pitched emotional journey with Jesus. My teen years were spent in a charismatic church where I was supposed to "feel" the Spirit moving, where I was supposed to have some kind of heightened love of Jesus and amazing worship times all the time. I felt guilty when it wasn't that way. When I was there and He was there and I wasn't doubting Him but I wasn't receiving special insights. When I found that reading my Bible was boring.
Just like my marriage isn't on the rocks when I'm not feeling like I'm on my honeymoon, my walk with God isn't less when I live in ordinary time. When my prayers don't result in quick answers or a strong feeling. When I read the Bible and no marvelous insight comes to me.
In fact, ordinary time can be a restful period. A reminder that Christ DID the work. He paid the price. Even in Lent, I celebrate the routines of ordinary daily faith. The aha is wonderful. More so because it is surrounded by the quiet acts and gentle rhythms that make up the journey of faith. I love ordinary time.
3 comments:
I love ordinary time. It takes away a lot of the stress of preparing for the "high times". It's like the times you can spend with a good friend, and neither of you is saying anything, but you are both having a great time just being with each other.
i love this post, for so very many reasons!
Amen for ordinary time. It is such a relief to know the God works outside the charismatic idea of the "Spirit."
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