The saints of the Reformation remind us that holiness does not mean perfection—it means belonging to God. As we enter All Saints and All Souls, perhaps the saints should be allowed to disturb the furniture a little, reminding us that the Church is always being reformed and God is still making saints from wonderfully unfinished people like us.
Tag Archives: Grace
God Is Not Waiting for You to Become More Impressive
We often imagine that God is waiting for us to become a more organized, prayerful, patient and generally improved version of ourselves. But Ordinary Time reminds us that God does not work with our improved selves—God works with the people we actually are. As All Saints approaches, perhaps holiness is less about self-improvement and more about surrender: discovering that grace begins not when we become impressive, but when we simply show up.
When God Is Quietly Mending Things
Some repairs arrive with noise and commotion. Grace usually does not. In these quiet days of Ordinary Time, perhaps God is already mending relationships, healing wounds, restoring hope, and making things new—one small stitch at a time.
God Is Probably in the Laundry: The Holiness of Doing It Again
Much of life consists of doing things again: washing the dishes, making breakfast, saying our prayers, offering forgiveness, beginning again. Perhaps holiness is not found only in extraordinary moments, but in the faithful repetition of ordinary ones. As All Saints approaches, we remember that saints were formed through thousands of ordinary mornings offered to God.
God Is in the Unfinished Things
We like beginnings and endings, but most of life is lived somewhere in between. In the Ordinary Time between Thanksgiving and All Saints, perhaps there is grace in remembering that unfinished does not mean abandoned. God is still working—in our questions, our healing, our relationships, our ordinary days, and in the people we are still becoming.
The Holy Art of Showing Up: When Faithfulness Looks Remarkably Ordinary
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.
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.
When Grace Pulls Up a Chair
Thanksgiving is about more than what we place on the table. It is about the people in the chairs, the memories held in the empty ones, and the grace that keeps making room for us all. On Thanksgiving Sunday, perhaps the simplest prayer is still the best: for this bread, these people, this imperfect life—thanks be to God.