The end of the school year is coming and that means summer vacation is around the corner. This usually means
more time for fun. There are days spent barbeque-ing, days at the beach, picnics, outdoor games, and long family vacations.
Summer is a really good time.
Of course this tells us something about what we think of as being a good time. Church usually isn’t very far
up that list. I’m not saying this to make myself look good. I know the power and pleasure of a lazy Sunday after a busy
week of work. I know all of the fun things one could be doing instead.
I skipped
church most Sundays in college. I had other, more fun things to do. After I graduated I didn’t go to church again until
it was Advent. And I had some lovely Sundays not in church. But somehow I couldn’t stand the thought of going through
Advent without church, even though I had sailed through the rest of the year. So I came back the first Sunday in Advent and
I haven’t left since.
I found that I really was missing something without church, and it wasn’t just Advent. Somehow church gave me
a soul deep peace, a chance to reconnect with God, and a chance to celebrate and thank that I just didn’t quite get
during the week. It gave me a part of myself and it gave me something I needed.
Yet I’d been some time without church and never noticed that I was missing it. Even now, when I’m trying
to force my eyes open at 5 AM, I think longingly of sleeping in, lazy days, and fun things I could be doing. Of course, given
my internship, that’s not a possibility. But even before that, I noticed that my week felt wrong on the rare occasion
when I’d miss church. It felt like something was missing and like I’d gotten off on the wrong foot and gotten
out of the wrong side of the bed. Something was just plain wrong. I hadn’t started my week focused on what is most important,
God. Instead it had started focused on something like sleep or a latte, things I love, things I may even need, but not the
proper center of my life.
When we remember to make time for church, even when other things are tempting, we’re saying what’s really
important in our lives. We are setting our priorities as we start the week. We are setting an example for those around us
and teaching them what’s important.
I’m not saying that the world ends just because we miss a Sunday. Sometimes there are wonderful opportunities
that shouldn’t be missed and sometimes life gets in the way. But sometimes it’s easy to stretch it out just one
more Sunday, to think it’s not that bad, until that becomes every Sunday and we have chosen where our focus will be.
This summer think about what’s important, what you want those around you to remember, when you set your priorities for
the summer.
Vicar Joy Proper
