On Ordinary Time
My friend Dave Polhemus is a retired United Methodist pastor and army chaplain. Dave writes a weekly devotional that I receive by email. I want to share his thoughtful words from the Monday after Pentecost... I hope his words inspire you as they have me... Pastor Peter
Now it begins a long Season After Pentecost, extending 28 weeks, this year, until the 23rd of November. Different denominations call it differently, but I like the title “Ordinary Time.”
It is the time when the preacher can give a sigh of relief. Ever since the first Sunday in Advent ( December 2 last year) there have been planned things going on. Getting ready for Christmas, quickly followed by Epiphany, then Lent and Easter doesn't give much time to look at “ordinary” things as a preacher. Now is the time when those things that have been piling up in the back of the mind and on the corner of the desk can be addressed.
Now one can look at the issues of war and peace, marriage and the family, race, immigration, local needs, drugs, and any of the myriad of issues rattling around in the congregation. One can take the time to study and preach in-depth without the pressure of a special festival or day pressing down. Even those pastors who are committed to following the Liturgical Calendar have wiggle room in selecting which of the four selected scriptures to use.
As I wrote, I began to wonder, do you have any “Ordinary Time?” A time when there is an opportunity to look at the ordinary things of your life. Have you time to get together with loved ones and friends without an agenda. Do you have time when you can look at the multiplicity of pictures you have taken in your life and sort them out? How about looking at the things you have stored in your garage or basement that you’ve not looked at in who knows how many years? How long since you got in the car ( yes, even with gas at an all time high) and gone exploring on a few back roads you’ve been meaning to check out? Have you given yourself an afternoon to just “do nothing?” Have you looked through that collection of Christmas Cards that you were going to read again. I love to look over the books on my shelves and as I read the titles be reminded of how I enjoyed them the first time. Every once in a while, I pick out a favorite from my youth and reread it--just for the fun. That is “Ordinary Time.” Most of us, even those “retired” don’t have much ordinary time. My little Methodist furnished “Daily Suggester” has few unmarked days, something I promised myself that I’d have when retired.
So, I recommend that you find some “ordinary time.” Crazy as it might seem, plan some. Plan to be unscheduled if even for a short time, until it becomes more natural. Methodist Clergy are asked before they are admitted into membership in the annual conference a series of questions. One series is “ Will you observe the following directions? Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never trifle away time.” That is a load many carry and never have any “Ordinary Time.” Be not fooled,“Ordinary Time” is not trifled time. It is necessary for sanity. Go out and enjoy.