People of Hope,
At Christmas, Bishop Tim gifted clergy of the synod with a calendar. This calendar was different from typical ones. Instead of going month by month, it went by church season, starting with the first Sunday of Advent. I now have it hanging on the wall of my office where all my previous calendars lived, and it has been more disruptive to me than I would have thought. What happens when my brain is used to quickly finding a date because it is regimented by thirty or thirty-one days (and that pesky 28)? As I sit at my computer, I glance up at the calendar to help with planning, and immediately need to reorient what my brain is used to seeing, or I will get lost.
I kinda like it. For a moment, my busy scheduling mind is interrupted. God’s time disrupts. In a period when time and events in the world seem to keep marching on and overwhelming me, here is a brief subtle reminder that God is present on another schedule, acting upon my day and in the world with a different purpose and timing. Can I not only reorient my brain, but my life to this timing?
In a couple weeks, we will enter the season of Lent, starting with Ash Wednesday. This is especially a season of reorientation, and often a period of prayer and fasting. Any time we fast –whether from food, or television, or our phones– it is not about self-improvement, but turning to God. Taking something away that has been filling up our time and thoughts in order to deepen our awareness of God in our life and empower us to choose the fast God asks of us: do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. What might God help us notice?
In whatever way you enter this new season, I pray that it will be a holy disruption—like staring at a calendar that is not arranged the way you are expecting.
Peace be with you,
Pastor Liz
At Christmas, Bishop Tim gifted clergy of the synod with a calendar. This calendar was different from typical ones. Instead of going month by month, it went by church season, starting with the first Sunday of Advent. I now have it hanging on the wall of my office where all my previous calendars lived, and it has been more disruptive to me than I would have thought. What happens when my brain is used to quickly finding a date because it is regimented by thirty or thirty-one days (and that pesky 28)? As I sit at my computer, I glance up at the calendar to help with planning, and immediately need to reorient what my brain is used to seeing, or I will get lost.
I kinda like it. For a moment, my busy scheduling mind is interrupted. God’s time disrupts. In a period when time and events in the world seem to keep marching on and overwhelming me, here is a brief subtle reminder that God is present on another schedule, acting upon my day and in the world with a different purpose and timing. Can I not only reorient my brain, but my life to this timing?
In a couple weeks, we will enter the season of Lent, starting with Ash Wednesday. This is especially a season of reorientation, and often a period of prayer and fasting. Any time we fast –whether from food, or television, or our phones– it is not about self-improvement, but turning to God. Taking something away that has been filling up our time and thoughts in order to deepen our awareness of God in our life and empower us to choose the fast God asks of us: do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. What might God help us notice?
In whatever way you enter this new season, I pray that it will be a holy disruption—like staring at a calendar that is not arranged the way you are expecting.
Peace be with you,
Pastor Liz
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