"Something greater than the temple is here."
In Matthew 12: 1-6 Jesus walks through the grainfields on the sabbath; his disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what it is not lawful to do on the sabbath." . . . Jesus said, I tell you, something greater than the temple is here.
Something greater than the temple is here, all around us, and in us. We take off our shoes. We are on holy ground.
In the circle of the church year ordinary days are not "run of the mill". Ordinary rather prosaically refers to ordinal numbers and counting the weeks between the great seasons of Christmas and Easter. In this particular Ordinary, the weeks between Pentecost and Advent, we pay particular attention to discipleship, how the seed of Love are scattered in this world.
In the fall I think of harvest of putting the garden to rest and of the migration and the sounds and sights of birds. I see their sweeping murmuration, the dark, decisive shapes of their communal excitements shaping and re-shaping in front of light.
I am filled with awe and the kind of joy that is made richer by its poignancy. It is the time of gathering up and of gratitude. The quality of light is as rich as can be It is weightier and brimming with all the harvest of summer day.
These are the days when sunlight is foregrounded in our chiaroscuro and ready to yield the stage to the soft darkness that will come.
We begin our Wednesday Ember Days observance wtih prayer.
Chosse a phrase from the writing above or from the song Of the Earth and let it be your mantra for today. (ex."something greater than the temple is here" or "I am on holy ground"). Repeat it throughout the day.
This is an excerpt from the resource Entwining which holds prayers and practices and reflections for each cluster of Ember Days throughout the year You can read an Advent Ember Days reflection here.
And find Creation Prayers here
