Dear friends,

Summer is a time to relax, when we can enjoy the good weather before life becomes hectic once more. This feeling of rest is reflected in the Church’s calendar. The period of time from Trinity Sunday until All Saints is known as ‘Ordinary Time’ (and often counted by the number of weeks ‘after Trinity’) and it is a long time from June to November. In comparison with the rest of year, which is structured around preparation for and celebration of the key Christian festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost, the weeks after Trinity seem like marking time until something important happens. During the summer months, Sunday passes Sunday without many special highlights until Harvest. As such, this part of the year can feel like the time when the Church is resting and drawing breath. Yet this doesn’t mean that life is boring, or even that God is somehow not as interested or active. Our terminology of ‘Ordinary Time’ doesn’t help – we don’t always value the ordinary over the special, and sometimes can think of God only being present in those very special events in our faith (such as Christmas and Easter) or ‘special’ event in our lives (such as when we get baptised or married, or perhaps when we are ill or in need of help). We tend to forget that God is there when things are just normal. The truth is that God is the Lord of the ordinary times as much as he is the Lord of the special times. Jesus had many very special times in his ministry, like the experience of the Transfiguration or the miracles he performed, but he also spent plenty of time slowly travelling, eating and talking with his disciples or alone praying. God was not any less present in those times as in the big supernatural ones.  

We need to be constantly reminded that God cares about our daily, ordinary life, and that we can still encounter him, worship him and hear from him in those times.

Enjoy your summer!

Karsten Wedgewood