There are certain sounds in life that inspire immediate joy. The laughter of a child. The call of a loon across a northern lake. The sound of a barbecue being opened on a summer evening. And then there is the alarm clock on a Monday morning. The alarm clock occupies a somewhat different category. Now,Continue reading “The Gospel According to the Alarm Clock”
Tag Archives: Gratitude
The Theology of the Red-and-White Lawn Chair: Canada Day Reflections for Ordinary Time
Gratitude is not the denial of imperfection. It is the recognition of gift.
Finding God Somewhere Around the Seventh Fairway
Because life has a remarkable way of keeping human beings grounded.
Moments of brilliance happen. Moments of embarrassment happen immediately afterward. And still the game continues.
You pick up your club. You laugh at yourself. You walk down the fairway with your friends. And grace quietly follows along beside you.
Because much of life unfolds exactly this way.
Mistakes are made. Plans go sideways.Perfect outcomes remain elusive.
And still, God gently invites us onward.
The Gospel According to the Backyard Bird Feeder
Because Ordinary Time teaches us to notice things again.
The movement of light through trees.The sound of wind before rain arrives. The astonishing variety of life unfolding quietly around us every single day whether we pause to observe it or not.
The Theology of the Shared Zucchini
Love multiplies when shared.
Kindness grows through giving.
Communities flourish when people stop treating blessings as private possessions and begin seeing them as gifts meant to circulate outward.
The Spirituality of the Morning Coffee
Pause for a moment. Sit quietly. Pray simply. Drink your coffee gratefully.
And remember that ordinary mornings may contain far more holiness than we often realize.
Even if coherent thought is still arriving gradually.
The Quiet Spirituality of Watering the Plants
So perhaps this Monday, as you move through the ordinary responsibilities of life, take a moment to ask:
What in my life needs watering?
What relationships need attention?What part of my soul has been running dry? Where is God quietly inviting me back into rhythms that give life rather than merely consume it?
Because grace rarely arrives only in dramatic moments. More often, it comes quietly.
The Spiritual Discipline of Folding Laundry
Laundry, after all, is an act of stewardship.
It is the quiet work of tending life.
Caring for ourselves. Caring for those we love. Preparing for another ordinary day of living.
The Gospel According to the Lawn Chair
And perhaps part of our calling in Ordinary Time is to relearn how to join it.
Not by doing more.
But by paying attention.
The breeze moving through the trees. The absurd confidence of a robin defending territory vastly larger than itself. The smell of cut grass that somehow convinces us we have accomplished something important merely by smelling it.
The Theology of the Slightly Overfilled Grocery Bag
And it is here, in the grocery bags and the small decisions and the slightly overambitious plans, that faith takes on its most practical form.