Ordinary Time

“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.”

This week, Rev. Dr. Rusty Edwards, pastor of First Baptist Church, Halifax, shared a message with us. In a mere 22 minutes, he managed to brilliantly weave together the more idealized story of the early church in the book of Acts, the messier, behind-the-scenes church context in Corinth, the story of First Baptist Halifax,  the history of Massachusetts, the perplexing historical social realities around us, astronomy, and the story of Southpoint. Grateful for the shelter of the CABF, I was glad our church could get to know him. Afterwards, someone in our community said to me, in response to his sermon, “I am so excited I don’t know what to do with myself!”

I have been thinking about that response all week. I am curious to know more.What is it about mere words, that they can elicit such excitement? I imagine it happens when something within you finds shelter in the words of another, and you are elated to come home to something you KNOW in your bones to be good, beautiful, and true. 

Upon turning sixty, I promised myself I would try new things. After four months of waiting, I finally joined my two friends as they made their biweekly sojourn into Vancouver for their Gaga Dance class. I was so nervous. But, when it was over, I felt something in me sounding a similar refrain—“I am so excited I don’t know what to do with myself!” Again, in the shelter of my friends, a kind teacher, and an eclectic group of ordinary folk, something in me found shelter. I was elated to come home to movement, something I KNEW was good for me.

We aren’t meant to go it alone. And we need not. We live within the shelter of others. We live within the shelter of Christ. We live within the shelter of Creation. In the church calendar, we are sheltered  by Ordinary Time. In this season, may we become more aware of all that shelters us, and all the shelter that is ours to offer. May we become more aware of those seeking shelter.

On Sunday, Leah offered the prayers of the people. She led us in praying for the people of Gaza without shelter. She prayed for those fighting for water rights, and for people in our own communities struggling. Surely, our prayer is a form of shelter. And yet, what are ways we can move prayer out of our hearts and into the streets?

Deep peace and blessing,
Anne

Rev. Anne Baxter Smith
Pastor, Church at Southpoint

In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World, 2016, by Pádraig Ó Tuama.
“It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” Drawing on this Irish saying, Ó Tuama relates ideas of shelter and welcome to our journeys of life, using poetry, story, biblical reflection, and prose to open up gentle ways of living well in a troubled world.