ORDINARY TIMES

The words of Paul in today's scripture are heroic in tone and confident in the extreme. Words so powerful that they seem to leap off the page, no matter how many times one has read them. These are lofty thoughts with high energy that are just right for addressing stressful and extremely challenging times.

I want to briefly consider the other side of the emotional coin: simple, easy, slowed-down times with days proceeding one after another with pleasant ease. Let's call it "ordinary time.

"For more than half a year I have found myself in ordinary time. Life is full and sanguine. Not that I am complaining, mind you. All sorts of adrenaline-pumping life events have punctuated the past decade: our youngest daughter's six-year hospitalization and untimely death, discovering my career-ending neuromuscular disease, the loss of our son in-law through the dissolution of our oldest daughter's marriage and within the past three years, my wife Cris' two encounters with cancer. Life was full, challenging and often troubling. The scripture advises that we are to live in the present as everyday has enough trouble. Simply stated, my family has had enough.

Now that the stage is set, it is fair to ask, "So what does it all mean spiritually as you live in this quiet present?" I cannot tie my response up in a neat or even orderly package. But I recognize a need to continue with the disciplines and practices that were so sustaining in the difficult times. At least for me, there is a real temptation to let some things slide now that much of the pressure is relieved.

I also actively look for new ways to be of quiet service -- many of these now close to home with children and grandchildren. Once pressured by career and various crises, I'm now available for long walks, reading of many stories, trips together and taking simple meals together.

I share with others a life-giving event where I have been renewed many times. For several years now, twice each year, I have invited a small group of men to spend a week at a Benedictine Priory in Vermont where there is an emphasis on prayer, hospitality and work. I especially invite the "great givers" -- clergy, our busy core of laymen and just folks who express an interest. I find time spent there with the Benedictine Brothers and fellow pilgrims to be healing and richly rewarding. I used to say that I went there for "emergency quiet."

Someone said that an important part of being a Christian is one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. With that in mind, I am writing or archiving several books. One set is a collection of the poems, stories and essays of our daughter, Rebecca. Another set is a collection of short pieces and stories I wrote during various difficult days that I call "Letters to myself." I don't know of the value of these words to others, but they say much about where I found bread, and my hope is that my humble recounting may encourage and embrace others seeking bread. I have found this work to be exhausting. I need to be more intentional about these efforts -- the danger of no deadline.

So, God is God in the midst of everything, and God calls out for us to be steadfast no matter what condition or state we are in. In stressful times, I am propelled into God's arms. In the ordinary times, I need to make extra efforts to really live in God's presence in a new way. Romans 8:37-39 lists many things that will not separate us from the love of God. With all reverence, perhaps we can add ordinary time to that list.

— Joe Matney

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist