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Summer Grace

We know grace as a gift, usually unmerited, offered freely, and accessible to everyone. I have experienced our summer theme focusing on ordinary miracles as such a gift. Taking the time to capture ordinary moments has turned out to be a lovely spiritual practice that has helped me to see the sacredness of all things. I know these hydrangeas will not last much
longer so I snapped this picture in a feeble attempt to hang on to summer a little longer.

Some moments are harder to let go of than others. We haven’t always been successful at growing hydrangeas, so I consider these flowers to be an ordinary miracle for sure – an appropriate way to end my reflections on our summer theme. These delicate flowers are the very picture of beauty and grace. They are a gift that could potentially draw you into a “holy in the ordinary” sort of experience.

The Gospel reading for this Sunday is the last of a trilogy of readings on the bread of life. We have been encouraged to reflect on what it means to internalize our faith in ways that bring together the spiritual and the worldly. With that comes the challenge of living our faith in each moment – no separation between secular and sacred – it’s all sacred. I think our summer spiritual practice has given us ways of experiencing that very thing.

I hope your summer has been graced with many everyday moments that have stopped you in your tracks, fed your soul, brought the holy into the ordinary, and the ordinary into the holy. You can continue sending in your “ordinary miracle” pictures for another week. All our pictures will come together for a visual and music tribute to the summer that will be part of our service on Rally Sunday (Sept. 8).

Peace and joy,
Nancy