Hi everyone,
We are already dangerously close to the end of October, which means the kids have been in school for almost two months now (7 weeks, to be exact). And in that time, they had 7 weekends. Out of those 7 weekends, 5 of them were “long”. Like, literally, not metaphorically. The way it worked out they had either the Friday or Monday off more times than they didn’t. What a time to be alive.
But like I said a few weeks ago, I don’t mind it at all. I know some parents dread when the kids are not in school as it means they need some sort of child minding, but we’re fortunate enough to have a flexible enough schedule that we can work around it. And that means I get to spend more time with them, do more things with them, and basically have more fun.
You know, freedom.
We don’t have to worry about waking up in time for school, we don’t have to worry about lunches being packed or clothes ready for the weather, we don’t have to worry about anything but just being. And it’s nice, if even for just a few hours, to enjoy that kind of freedom.
Here are the readings for next week:
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 46
Romans 3:19-28
John 8:31-36
This upcoming Sunday is Reformation Sunday, and we get the same texts every year regardless of where we are in the Lectionary. And so like it is when some of these festival days, it’s often hard to come up with something new from the same texts that we get pretty regularly… almost like we don’t have the freedom to be within these texts.
But that is so ironic, as you would have gathered (if you read the texts), as they are about freedom. Freedom from sin, freedom from shame, freedom to be.
This isn’t to say that following the Lectionary year after year is a form of slavery or oppression, although I might joke that it is. But I think we often give into the mundane day-to-day and forget to be. We sometimes get caught up in all the things we should be doing that we forget about things that we could be doing. We seem to fill up our lives with tasks and responsibilities in hopes that we can achieve something when really, our value and worth aren’t dependant on that.
While there is benefit in our accomplishments, they aren’t what save us and give us lasting life. They aren’t what define us as God’s people. They aren’t what ultimately gives us freedom. Only God’s love and grace can do that, and thanks be to God, we get them in spades.
Have a great week!
Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash