As we all know, we have suspended all in-person gatherings and worship at least through the end of January. This means that all of us are participating from our Zoom balcony once again. The good news is that we know how to do this. AND we now have our Comcast upgrades, so we should have fewer issues of dropped or disrupted connection during worship.
The celebration of the Baptism of Jesus closes our feasts and celebrations, and we enter into what the church calls “Ordinary Time.” Once again, as we began to feel some normalcy with our ability to gather in person and optimistically thought about what a new normal might look like, in comes the OMNICRON variant.
Ordinary Time is called "ordinary" not because it is common but simply because the weeks of Ordinary Time are numbered. Thus, the numbered weeks of Ordinary Time, in fact, represent the ordered life of the church—the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (Christmas and Easter seasons) or in penance and preparation (as in Advent and Lent), but in watchfulness and expectation of the second coming of Christ.
The readings for the Sunday following the Baptism of Jesus always feature either John the Baptist's acknowledgment of Christ as the Lamb of God or Christ's first miracle—the transformation of water into wine at the wedding at Cana (this past Sunday).
Ordinary Time is the part of the year in which Christ walks among us and transforms our lives. There's nothing "ordinary" about that! Let us continue to hold fast and celebrate Emmanuel: God with us in this extraordinary Ordinary Time.
Pastor Robyn and I are creating some interactive Zoom options for families to have conversation and activities at home. Also, in the coming weeks some members of our community will share strategies, ideas, and activities that can assist us in navigating the mixed bag of emotions that each of us is experiencing.
Pastor Robyn and I continue to be inspired and grateful for the thoughtfulness with which this community seeks to care for and tend to the needs and safety of all of our members.
May we each hold up one another in prayer and reach out to one another via phone, email, and US mail to share our feelings, seek support, and continue to encourage one another.
Journeying together in Christ,
Director Vinci Halbrook-Paterson