"Schedule's full, God. How 'bout Sunday?"

In the abbey, we have morning prayer together at (or slightly thereafter) 8 o’clock. This is one of our attempts to add rhythm to our life together as a way to daily commune and strengthen one another in the Spirit. I must be honest, it does much to start one’s day off on the right track – a tangible reassurance that God’s mercies truly are new every morning.

This regime got me thinking about the church’s tradition of a Sunday morning meeting time. It is a set time of the week to meet together, which is good, but how far does it go to prepare one for the trials and tribulations of everyday life? As humans, we need rhythm – it helps us become the people we want to be. On the other hand, do we try to structure God’s infiniteness to fit our weekly routine? By expecting Sunday to be church day – do we set aside the Spirit for the single day of the week we go to church (or two or three depending on how many church groups one attends)? Now I realize that this isn’t true for everyone, that some very good things happen on Sunday morns. But at the same time, the church has scheduled God out of most of life by creating a space for its parishioners to meet with Him at their specific time in their specific way. Sometimes I know God wants to speak to me in the most inopportune times – during a movie, concert, conversation, traffic, or work. I’m most ready to listen when I’m depending on him to guide me throughout the day. Having spent my life in Sunday church, I know that I have not always been this willing to listen – call it immaturity - but I think a large part of the reason was my inability to see God’s working in my life as a daily rhythm, rather than a weekly ritual.

Have the walls of the church gotten in the way of the freedom of the Spirit to come and go as Jesus did during his resurrection?

I would say that in many ways they have. Morning prayer is by no means the example of the right versus wrong way to handle life. At the same time it is a way to ask God to not only dwell in the walls of the home on a daily basis, but to invite his presence to go with us all places throughout our day, continually guiding and refining us. This is a daily, not weekly activity. For people looking to the Sunday service to “get them through the week,” it simply won’t do it – it can’t do it. God does not live in temples built by human hands, but only inside of each who looks to him for our daily guidance, our daily bread. We choke the Spirit out of our daily lives when we try to schedule God into our weeks. Maybe we all should try structuring our days in light of his eternity.

“may the peace of the Lord Christ go with you
wherever he may send you
may he guide you through the wilderness
protect you through the storm
may he bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders he has shown you
may he bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors…”