For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NRSVUE)
Summer has arrived – or at least it will shortly. How do you mark the change of season? For me, there are practical markers of the beginning of summer. Last night was the June council meeting, today is the last school day for Cade (Dante wrapped up last Friday). Once those markers pass, the pace both at church and at home slows a bit and so begins to feel like summer. I also have a playlist of about a dozen of my all-time favorite summer songs. I usually wait for an 80 degree day with blue skies in mid-June to put that playlist of songs and take the long way home to relax and enjoy. That little ritual marks for me a way to slow my breathing and enjoy the world around me, soaking in the summertime. On a particularly good day, I will even have time for a glass of lemonade (a hint of sweetness but more sour than sweet). Once all of those markers are met, then it truly feels like summer to me.
Marking time and seasons often gets overwhelmed by the constant demands of life, the artificial climate control of air conditioning and heating, and simply losing track of time. Setting some sort of marker to observe the changing seasons can help us feel rooted in the rhythms of the world around us and can allow us to better be present in the moment.
Within the church year, too, we mark seasons but too often miss the markers. We have moved into the green season of the Season after Pentecost, sometimes called Ordinary Time. It is the time of the church year with few holidays or special observances. The focus of the time is on the teachings of Jesus and what it looks like to grow in our discipleship. Without major holidays, the season often gets passed over. Yet finding ways to mark it can help us be more rooted in our own discipleship journey. Within the congregation, our Ministry Meeting does act as a marker of the shift from one year to the next. On the congregational level, this works. Yet it is also helpful to have a more personal way to mark the changing season. Perhaps taking on a slightly different way of having personal devotion time for the summer might help, or making a practice of taking a hike and meditating on the goodness of God’s creation. Whatever it may be, see if you can identify a few concrete steps to mark the beginning of summer not just as a time of rest but as a time of intentionally setting new patterns for spiritual growth.