Holiness rarely arrives with trumpets. More often, it looks like showing up, saying our prayers, keeping promises, forgiving, serving, and beginning again. In the quiet days between Thanksgiving and All Saints, Ordinary Time reminds us that God does some of God’s finest work through small acts of faithfulness repeated day after day.
Tag Archives: Christian Spirituality
The Spiritual Discipline of Not Being in Such a Hurry
We spend an astonishing amount of life on our way to somewhere else. But what if grace is not waiting at our next destination? In these ordinary October days between Thanksgiving and All Saints, perhaps God is inviting us to recover the holiness of paying attention—and discover that God was already here.
The Holy Art of Being Interrupted
We spend a great deal of energy organizing our days—and then life stubbornly refuses to follow the schedule. But what if some interruptions are more than inconveniences? What if grace occasionally arrives without an appointment? Jesus was constantly interrupted, and again and again, he stopped. Perhaps these ordinary October days can teach us the holy art of noticing God in the person, conversation, or moment we never planned.
The Holy Art of Not Getting Much Done
We live in a world that measures the value of a day by how much we accomplish. But what if the ordinary days between Thanksgiving and All Saints are inviting us into a different kind of holiness? In this third reflection on the season, we explore the grace hidden in unremarkable days, the theology of the checklist, and the holy art of saying, “That was enough for today.”
The Holiness of Wednesday: Finding God When Nothing Much Is Happening
Tuesday seldom arrives with trumpets. Yet the ordinary days may be where most of our holiness is actually formed. Between Thanksgiving and All Saints, this reflection explores the quiet grace of everyday life—and why God may be doing considerably more with an ordinary Tuesday than we realize.
God Lives Here Too: The Grace of Ordinary Days
Between Thanksgiving and All Saints lies a stretch of wonderfully ordinary days. No great festival, no dramatic celebration—just the everyday rhythms of work, meals, conversations, kindness, and perhaps a few leaves that need raking again. But what if these ordinary days are precisely where God is waiting to be noticed? Perhaps holiness is closer than we think.
Thanksgiving Before Everything Is Fixed
Thanksgiving does not have to wait until everything is fixed. In the middle of unfinished prayers, uncertain futures, family complications, and ordinary worries, grace is already present. Perhaps gratitude begins when we stop waiting for the perfect moment and discover the daily bread God has already placed before us.
Before the Turkey: Learning to Notice What Is Already Good
Thanksgiving begins long before the turkey reaches the table. It begins when we learn to notice the ordinary gifts we have become accustomed to overlooking. As Canadian Thanksgiving approaches, perhaps our spiritual work is simple: look around, pay attention, name what is good, and discover the grace that has been there all along.
We Were Never Meant to Stand Outside the Garden
The Season of Creation may be ending, but our place within creation is not. St. Francis reminds us that the earth is not scenery, property, or simply a collection of resources—it is a community of creatures already loved by God. Perhaps faithful care begins when we remember that we were never meant to stand outside the garden.
The Spiritual Discipline of Looking Out the Window
Creation has not stopped speaking—we have simply become very good at interrupting it. During the Season of Creation, perhaps one of our most important spiritual disciplines is simply learning to notice again: the trees, the birds, the soil beneath our feet, and the quiet goodness of a world still declaring the glory of God.