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February 2007 From the Pastor's Pen “Ordinary” “I
wonder as I wander out under the sky, As you read those words just now, you probably heard the
hauntingly beautiful tune at the same time. “I Wonder as I Wander” is sung
often at Christmas, and somewhat less frequently during the season of Lent. Both
are appropriate. Maybe even in between times, whenever that sense of wonder
and amazement, that sense of scandal comes over us—the scandal that Jesus was
born into a human world, lived a human life, died a human death. It’s an
overwhelming thought that’s worth some thought. But I like thinking of that old song from time to time for
another reason than its beautiful melody—because it’s the only song I know
that includes the word “ornery.” That wasn’t a word that was used much (if ever) in the
house I grew up in. Later on I heard it, kind of a “down-home” word used as a
derogatory remark to anyone who was acting contrary, fussy, cross, grumpy,
or, well . . . ornery. It’s one of those words that explains
itself pretty well in the given context. It was later still that I learned where the word had come
from. It’s a variation, a corruption, of the word “ordinary.” I can imagine
my southern Ordinary. When we think about what’s ordinary in our lives--regular,
everyday, common, mundane, even boring--it might make us ornery. We have such
a hunger for excitement and newness and entertainment that “ordinary” just
doesn’t cut it for us. It seems somehow “less” than what we think life should
be. The Church season between the day of Epiphany on January 6
and the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday, this year on February 21, is
called “Ordinary Time.” We put up the green paraments
in the sanctuary, we hear stories of the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry, and
there’s nothing particularly special going on. After the season of Advent and the festival
of Christmas, New Year, and the Baptism of the Lord Sunday, maybe we need a
little ordinary. After all, the everyday is where we live. Not every moment
is full of excitement, nor should it be. Living our lives in the
everyday—work, home life, school, schedules--is where we’re called to look
for God’s life. Right in the midst of our own lives. Right where things are
mundane, everyday, commonplace. Even where life is messy and imperfect. Even
where we are messy and imperfect
ourselves. Even when we’re ornery, God
is present. The challenge is to look for God-moments not just in the big
celebrations, not just in the holy times and places, but in the everyday
stuff of our lives in the beauty of nature, in watching children and
grandchildren, in watching the news or paying the bills. God is present,
whether we’re paying attention or not. Our call is to pay attention more to
the everyday moments of our lives; to know that God is in those moments as
much as in our worship and devotional times, the high, soaring transcendent
times when we feel so close to God. God is in the ordinary time. God is in the ordinary times
of our lives; as individuals, as families, as a church, as a community. When
we look for God’s presence, we may well discover that the times we thought
were ordinary were not so ordinary because God is in them. The challenge of
living our lives with and for God, even in the everyday, is the call of
people in faith. This “ordinary time,” as we look toward the coming of Lent,
may we be so aware of God’s presence that we see the time as not so ordinary.
May we move past being ornery to being full of the life of God. Fred Pratt Green’s wonderful hymn “God is Here” expresses
that hope for our ordinary time: “Here
the servants of the Servant Wishing you a blessed ordinary time! On the Journey with you,
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Baker-Streevy
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