Ordinary Time

Pause

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans...”

from "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1939)

Today we pause to discern how God might be interrupting our lives to break us out of our comfort zone, inviting us into a deeper walk of faith.

Listen

The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice, doesn’t stand on the road of sinners, and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. Instead of doing those things, these persons love the Lord’s Instruction, and they recite God’s Instruction day and night! They are like a tree replanted by streams of water, which bears fruit at just the right time and whose leaves don’t fade. Whatever they do succeeds.

Psalm 1:1-3

Think

My go-to source of scripture, more often than not, is the Psalms. I find a deep sense of comfort from their poetic words. They do such a beautiful job of capturing the full breadth of our experience of God. There are psalms of joy that celebrate God’s creation and love for us. There are psalms of sorrow that capture the emotional depths of isolation, fear, and suffering. Often when I cannot put words to what I am feeling, I can find a psalm that gives voice to my heart.

Psalm 1 sets the tone for the other psalms as the author rejoices in the blessings of God because he has followed God’s commandments. There is a deep sense of happiness and fulfillment that comes from walking this life of faith. We welcome Jesus to come alongside us for our journey, and through him we will bear fruit that doesn’t fade.

Rob Schoeck

Pray

God of abundance, I thank you for the blessings that you have given me in my life: for my community of friends, for my community of faith, for my family, and for those whom I still hold dear to my heart but see no more. Strengthen and uphold me, walk alongside me as I seek to follow your will for my life so that I might be a blessing. Amen.

Go

Be prepared. Whatever your plans are for today, or however you imagined your day going, be prepared.

God may be reaching out to you in the most surprising and unexpected way. God wants to be in relationship with you and is trying to break into your life. It is up to you to be open to that invitation, no matter what guise it might take.

Be prepared, because God loves you and will show you this through the people and the world around you.