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Spiritual Beliefs Episcopalians celebrated Pentecost more than 10 weeks ago. The feast day that comes after the Great Fifty Days of Easter has several implications for Christians, but the most important/ powerful image is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. According to the biblical witness, Jesus breathes on the disciples around him and says that they are to receive the Holy Spirit. Shortly after this moment of empowerment the Lord's ascension takes place. He is then no longer with us in the flesh, but abides with us spiritually. Many times in churchy language I hear people refer to the long season from the Day of Pentecost until the First Sunday of Advent as "the season of Pentecost". It is incorrect in term...and possibly in theology. The correct way of pronouncing this period is "the season after Pentecost". I emphasize "AFTER". It is after that once in history event that I mentioned in the above paragraph. It is after the earthly ministry of Jesus in both liturgy and in Scripture. It is a time for the ministry of men and women. It is referred to off-hand as "Ordinary Time". I am not sure exactly why it is so titled, but I see it as where we live in our ordinary lives, doing ordinary things and expecting the extraordinary to occur. We are the church militant (meaning in the flesh), being urged on to do the Lord's work in the world by the church triumphant (the heavenly multitude of witnesses gone before us). Being in ordinary time does not mean lounge around. It does not mean just live out your life and take care of number one. The charge from Christ is to do even greater things in our generation than he did in the short earthly ministry that he had with us. That friends is a scary and bold endeavor. It almost sounds like blasphemy to think---to even think of doing more than Jesus did. I interpret that charge to mean that by the indwelling of God's spirit we are led by the Living God to be bold. To reach out in ways that might astound people. To boldly go where none have gone before. The first way for me is prayer. Whenever there is a trauma I go to my prayer. If there is an idea of a new program or teaching, I go to my prayer. Before I write each sermon, I go to my prayer. As the Shema in the Book of Deuteronomy says, "Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." [Deuteronomy 6: 6-7] By my prayer I honor the God who loves me and refuses to abandon me. In prayer I am at one with the rest of humanity. Therefore I pray for all---even the yoyos that I don't care to be around. I pray for the innocent victims of wars; for those who are forced into armed conflict; and for the terrorists who plot destruction and chaos. Even they have a story known only to God. Even they are my brothers and sisters. After that shock wears off you consider what comes in conjunction with our prayer. Many times I am led, I believe by that indwelling Spirit, to consider doing a ministry out in the world that will bring goodness to others, and not just for my own interest or welfare. I have discovered over the years that my efforts have not rocked the world, but have made a difference in a number of places. One such "little ministry" is recycling. I have been recycling since Project SOAR (Save Our American Resources), a Boy Scout program that dates back to the 1960s. Recently (the past 10 years) I have taken it much more seriously trying to get the churches I have served to use less throw away items and do more recycling. I had almost no success in my last cure, but at St. Peter's Episcopal Church there is a spirit of listening to the Spirit. We are recycling glass, plastic, paper and steel. I have had more than a few of the parishioners tell me how much less garbage they put out each week. We, as a community, are making a difference. It may not be a gigantic difference, but it is changing attitudes about how we look at God's creation and our place in that creation. It came back to me when I was unpacking some books and found an old favorite: 50 SIMPLE THINGS KIDS CAN DO TO SAVE THE EARTH by the EarthWorks Group. It is probably a bunch of old hippies (or scouts) from the 60s who would have received benign smiles and smirks a longtime ago. I opened the pages and remembered that as much as I try to recycle there is still more that I can do. I believe the Spirit of God says to me, "Hey ole buddy, start small and see what happens. Maybe, if you build it, they will come". So a ministry has taken root. It didn't work at the parish where I served a few years ago because no one was interested in extending themselves. Too bad. They missed an opportunity to step out beyond themselves. That is a congregation that fits the stereotype of Episcopalians being "the frozen chosen". I hope that someday that community might grow up and grow out of itself. At St. Peter's I have met a community that is willing to experiment with moving toward greatness in the name of Christ. This small Episcopal congregation is trying something that is different.
That sort of attitude will lead to other attempts at listening to the Spirit and responding to the need of God's people in the world during this, Ordinary Time.
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