Articles - From the Curate

Ordinary Time with God

In the Church Calendar, we have just moved from the season of Eastertide, ending with Pentecost - a celebration of receiving the Holy Spirit in our lives and remembering when the followers of Jesus received the Holy Spirit after His Ascension. The Church calendar now moves into the season of Ordinary Time, which lasts all through Summer and early Autumn, finishing in late November, before the start of the new Church Year on Advent Sunday.

We enter a long length of Ordinary Time or "time through the year". The Church colour is green, fitting in with the season - reminding us of the world, the land, growth and creation. Ordinary Time can be used as a time to pause and take stock, to sit and reflect, to ponder and not rush, to relax and just be.

That is what we have been starting to do as a church, as we have looked in the last couple of months, at our mission in the Parish - at PCC, at the APCM and the opportunity with the displays in church recently. We have started the process of taking a step back, taking time to reflect and take stock of where we currently are as a Church body in relation to mission and how we engage with people outside our Church, here in Roundhay. This process can take time and can't be rushed, because we need to discern God's voice within it all. It can sometimes, however, be hard to do that amongst the busyness and noisiness of the world and our lives.
This is where I am reminded of Elijah on the mountain (1 Kings 19:11 -18) where God wasn't found in the wind, or the earthquake or the fire…. No, God was found and heard in 'the sound of sheer silence'.

In taking stock, stepping back and hopefully trying to listen to God, maybe we can, as a Church body, discern and hear what He has to say to us for His mission to take place in our Parish.

This is also just as important for us as individuals. It's sometimes very hard to connect with God in the noise and busyness of daily life. Sometimes we just need to be still and just be with God and then things can sometimes become a lot clearer.

I would encourage us all to use this Ordinary Time to try to spend some quiet time, some stillness and maybe some extra time with God - to try to discern what He is saying to us as individuals and what He is saying to us as a Church. There are lots of ways this can happen and we are all different, but some ways could be just walking quietly round the Park, sitting in our garden and reflecting or trying to find some quiet space in our own homes - just attempts at trying to find stillness and space to be with God. Or there are opportunities for quiet time, prayer and reflection in Church - Sunday evening prayer, daily morning prayer (8.45 Mon - Thurs), Julian meetings (first and third Tuesdays at 2pm) and the prayer stations/areas in church before or after any service (one on either side of the communion rail and one in the Sanctuary behind the altar and choir seats).

Ways of trying to spend time with God in Ordinary Time - pausing, reflecting, pondering - listening out for our Creator's voice in the silence.

God's peace and love to you

Diane

© St Edmund's Church, Roundhay