Dear Sisters and Brothers,
With the Feast of Pentecost behind us, we enter the Season After Pentecost, or as it is sometimes called, “Ordinary” Time. This word “ordinary” comes from Latin (ordo, ordinalis) and has more to do with ordering or counting than it does with our typical meaning of “common, unexceptional.” In fact, this season, which takes up a large portion of the church year, is rather extraordinary! It is the time when, without the particular themes of Advent, Lent, Christmas, or Easter, we can do the work of the church in an organized, structured way. And—as we can see from the use of the color green for this season—this work is about growth and vitality.
There’s a simple equation that can help us live into this extraordinary vitality. Let me introduce it by way of example. Many of you know that Lori and I received the gift of a new granddaughter in early March. This baby Farah was born at only 1.1 lbs. and 11 inches at 25 weeks. The odds were against her. Up until a day ago as a write this, she had been on life support since her birth. Our whole family (and many friends!) have been hoping that Farah might be able to go home without needing life support, as a tracheostomy in an infant is very difficult to manage. Yet those hopes would have remained discarnate if not for a nurse on her unit who took action and lobbied to try her on CPAP during a change of her intubation tube… even though her vital signs indicated little chance of success. Yet when this hope met action something wonderful happened: as of this writing, Farah has been over 24 hours without intubation and the need for life support!
The extraordinary happens in the midst of the ordinary. It happens when we allow our creativity and optimism full reign in hope, and then find the practical, meaningful ways to take action to help bring that hope to life. What are the things you deeply hope for in your life, and in church? How can you take action to help weave your hopes into reality? These questions are worth considering and form the basis of our ongoing strategic visioning. When hope comes to life, amazing things can happen… even in the most “ordinary” of seasons!
Together in ministry,
The Rev. Dr. James H. Reho,
Rector
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