Oak Ridge Presbyterian Church

A MESSAGE FROM THE PASTOR:

Even with leap year it’s probably a good thing that February is the shortest month of the year. It is in the middle of bleak winter with its grays and browns that hardly stimulate the imagination. Also there aren’t really any big holidays. Yes, we have Ground Hog Day, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day, but these seem so minor compared to Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. What is there to make us become really excited? Even in the church worship calendar we are in what is called Ordinary Time. We are done with Advent-Christmas-Epiphany season, and we are still a-waiting Lent-Easter-Pentecost season. All seems so ordinary. We don’t really expect anything extraordinary to happen. Perhaps we just survive February and wait for more interesting days to come.

But let’s not sell short that which is ordinary. If we stop and think about it, much of life is ordinary with our endless daily routines, but the ordinariness of time does not preclude the work of God. God can act anytime he wants to do something extraordinary in our lives. Just maybe the ordinariness of February can give us an opportunity to pay close attention to see what Jesus might do in our lives and the life of our church. We don’t have the distraction of exciting things going on which can prevent us from seeing the surprising ministry of the Holy Spirit.

If you read the Bible, you soon discover that throughout history God has chosen ordinary people and ordinary times to do extraordinary things. Jesus is always present with us, so just think how extraordinary it would be if he chose to do some seemingly ordinary thing in your life.

                                                          James H. Coen