Devotion
09/01/19 19:46
Greetings!
What we affectionally refer to as ‘the holidays’ are over. Some say this is a sad thing and some people say this is a good thing….. I think I fall into the later category. Not because the holidays weren’t a good thing, but because the holidays are, well, the holidays and nothing is routine about those days!
The ‘holidays’ start with Thanksgiving which is a lot of fun because the whole family gets together and the guys do guy things and the girls flitter through the kitchen and prepare food. Except for the one son-on-law who is the family biscuit maker and he has his moment in the kitchen…. We have done this for enough years we are getting to the point where everyone knows what they are doing and bringing and sitting around the table… However there are enough small children that chaos is the rule of the day and that is Ok cause we are all together and the din of laughing/screaming/singing children pervades the background accompanied of course by the voices of the football announcers.
So after Thanksgiving we are immediately approached by the season of Advent for whom everyone begins to get overly busy. I always think that for those of in the church profession Advent is busier than other people but I am not sure that is the case. These weeks before Christmas are filled regardless who you may be or where you may work or even if you are of the retired persuasion. We cook and party and go to extra church things and buy and wrap and mail and all those get ready for Christmas activities that seem to inundate all our lives regardless of what profession we are in - altho being in the church profession I still think that we are the busiest but I bet any of you could give me a good argument otherwise…..
And then Christmas is over and there is the week before New Years which for many is a week off but that week off is often filled with recovery efforts from the weeks leading up to Christmas and often filled with ‘this is my only week off in a while so I need to get the following things done……” and so it isn’t really a week off at all but a week that is just as busy as the others just filled with different business activities than the previous weeks.
And then there is New Years with various levels of partying and gathering and doing and then Bam! comes January 2 and it is time to get back to the ordinary.
While I enjoyed all the activities during ‘the holidays’ - even though I am a church worker and there is an element of enjoyment in the whining associated with that (which will return with the season of Lent I am sure) there is much rejoicing in my head as I settled back down to my desk and my list and my computer and the surrounding flurry of items in my office, I feel a sigh of ‘back to the ordinary’, back to the routines, back to being able to do the things that I do every day, back to my lists which are pretty similar week-to-week….
But I feel like I am in good company because as you read scripture you get the feeling that we worship a God of order as well. There was order in the creation; there was order when God outlined the seasons; there was order in the law and in the establishment of the feasts and festivals; there is order in our days and our years; there is order in our worship.
God knows that for his creation, order is alike a comforting mother holding her small baby in her arms and rocking back and forth, a rhythm of comfort for that child and God for each of us creates a rhythm of comfort to sooth us and give us the security of knowing his presence.
Amen!
What we affectionally refer to as ‘the holidays’ are over. Some say this is a sad thing and some people say this is a good thing….. I think I fall into the later category. Not because the holidays weren’t a good thing, but because the holidays are, well, the holidays and nothing is routine about those days!
The ‘holidays’ start with Thanksgiving which is a lot of fun because the whole family gets together and the guys do guy things and the girls flitter through the kitchen and prepare food. Except for the one son-on-law who is the family biscuit maker and he has his moment in the kitchen…. We have done this for enough years we are getting to the point where everyone knows what they are doing and bringing and sitting around the table… However there are enough small children that chaos is the rule of the day and that is Ok cause we are all together and the din of laughing/screaming/singing children pervades the background accompanied of course by the voices of the football announcers.
So after Thanksgiving we are immediately approached by the season of Advent for whom everyone begins to get overly busy. I always think that for those of in the church profession Advent is busier than other people but I am not sure that is the case. These weeks before Christmas are filled regardless who you may be or where you may work or even if you are of the retired persuasion. We cook and party and go to extra church things and buy and wrap and mail and all those get ready for Christmas activities that seem to inundate all our lives regardless of what profession we are in - altho being in the church profession I still think that we are the busiest but I bet any of you could give me a good argument otherwise…..
And then Christmas is over and there is the week before New Years which for many is a week off but that week off is often filled with recovery efforts from the weeks leading up to Christmas and often filled with ‘this is my only week off in a while so I need to get the following things done……” and so it isn’t really a week off at all but a week that is just as busy as the others just filled with different business activities than the previous weeks.
And then there is New Years with various levels of partying and gathering and doing and then Bam! comes January 2 and it is time to get back to the ordinary.
While I enjoyed all the activities during ‘the holidays’ - even though I am a church worker and there is an element of enjoyment in the whining associated with that (which will return with the season of Lent I am sure) there is much rejoicing in my head as I settled back down to my desk and my list and my computer and the surrounding flurry of items in my office, I feel a sigh of ‘back to the ordinary’, back to the routines, back to being able to do the things that I do every day, back to my lists which are pretty similar week-to-week….
But I feel like I am in good company because as you read scripture you get the feeling that we worship a God of order as well. There was order in the creation; there was order when God outlined the seasons; there was order in the law and in the establishment of the feasts and festivals; there is order in our days and our years; there is order in our worship.
God knows that for his creation, order is alike a comforting mother holding her small baby in her arms and rocking back and forth, a rhythm of comfort for that child and God for each of us creates a rhythm of comfort to sooth us and give us the security of knowing his presence.
Amen!