In these waning days of summer we find ourselves right in the middle of that long season of the liturgical year known as Ordinary Time. No major feast days like Epiphany or Easter or Pentecost. Not even the somber heaviness of Ash Wednesday. Just ordinary time. (Not sure what committee in the early church came up with that name, but I’m a little surprised that in all these centuries of use there wasn’t a push for something flashier!)
The emphasis of Ordinary Time (symbolized in the liturgical color green) is new growth, spiritual health, and life. And those things take time. Growth simply can’t be rushed. The church fathers and mothers seemed to understand this truth and planned accordingly for a LONG growing season. Plants confirm their wisdom. Unless you are bamboo or kudzu, your growth is slow and steady and probably not even noticed until you realize there is a young, green tomato hiding under that leaf. This year I wanted jalapeno peppers, so I purchased a plant whose label promised a truncated growth season that would result in an earlier harvest of fruit. Seemed like a good idea. And the plant performed as promised! HOWEVER, the peppers looked different and tasted different. Lesson learned – good fruit can’t be rushed. Perhaps that is why Ordinary Time is the longest season of the liturgical year. Healthy spiritual formation is most often long, steady, and simply ordinary.
We still have lots of “green” Sundays to go in this season before we get to Advent. I can imagine that some folks will tire of that color, but I’ve always been partial to green. (I’m pretty sure that partiality comes from being the only green-eyed child among my six blue-eyed siblings and blue-eyed parents.) So I’m happy for the green to hang around for a while longer – more time for that which can’t be rushed. And, friends, don’t grow impatient. For the results of Ordinary Time can really be pretty extraordinary. Enjoy the gift of the green season.
-Pastor David