Ordinary Time

Pause

Slow down, breathe deep, and connect to your power source.

“In this room you see a big bulb and a big switch. But, if there is no connection with the main power house, then there can be no light. Faith and prayer is the connection with God, and when that is there, there is service.”

Mother Teresa

Take a moment, connecting with God, and know this: Faith carries you through. Faith calls you to action. Faith is enough.

Listen

I hope, Lord. My whole being hopes, and I wait for God’s promise. My whole being waits for my Lord— more than the night watch waits for morning; yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!

Psalm 130:5-6

Think

Why is hope so often made to be some glorious thing that makes everything better? Hope can be simple, like a child wishing for something specific for Christmas, but sometimes hope is really hard. If it’s your turn to take a shift for the night watch where you’re hoping and waiting for morning to come, that can be frightening and uncertain. Hope takes on a whole new depth when it’s connected to faith.

The psalmist is waiting for the Lord to answer with a sense of desperate hope. Frustration, fear, and maybe even anger begin to rise to the surface, drowning out the bits of joy associated with hope. This is the feeling of sitting by a sick loved one in the hospital. This is the feeling after hearing of yet another school shooting. This is the feeling when love feels far away. These are also the moments we have to have faith that our hope is not in vain. Morning is coming.

Chris Cherry

Pray

Lord, despair and uncertainty often follow right on the heels of hope. Give me the strength to continue hoping. Give me the strength to have faith, even if only a little. Amen.

Go

Faith is both amazing and frustrating. Faith is what invites questions and what keeps us going. What step can you take today?

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr.