One of the many interesting processes I have engaged since beginning my part in the ministry at Holy Apostles is the experience of presiding at the liturgy. Although I have been ordained for over 26 years, the liturgical style in this place is very different from that in any of the positions I have held in the past. And the areas that are similar, I have grown accustomed to certain ways of doing things that aren’t always consistent with the way worship happens here.
So, I have had to cast my thoughts back to my original training (Prayer Book class in 1991—yikes!). I have made the trek to my bookshelf to dust off some of the first resources I was given during those early days of my vocation. And I must admit that it has been edifying—fun, even—to re-encounter with fresh eyes information important to the work that I do. It has helped me focus on certain things I took for granted and prompted me to question some of my default settings; some of the things I always do because that’s the way I’ve always done them.
We all have such settings. Sometimes they play out in our professional lives, sometimes through our relationships or the ways in which we spend our free time. Familiar patterns are not all bad. They can streamline activity and conserve energy that is then free to be focused elsewhere. But it is also important to remember that throughout Scripture we hear the exhortation to wake up. We are called to question—not necessarily reject, but question—the status quo wherever we find it. We are asked to shake ourselves out of mindlessness, in order that we might fully appreciate the abundance God offers us in endeavors both familiar and new.
So, I commend taking some time to re-approach some area of daily living. It can be as minute as ordering something different in a favorite restaurant, or as expansive as considering a new vocational expression. Doing so is always a work in progress, but the fresh perspective offered by such a commitment brings with it a sense of possibility. And this same sense of possibility offers an invitation to expand the sense of the Holy in all areas of our lives.
Blessings and Peace,
Anna+
