"Three days until Sunday"

A couple weeks ago, on a Thursday, I greeted someone and asked how they were doing. Their response was, “Only three days until Sunday. I can’t wait to praise God.” No one had ever said that to me before. I wanted to dig a little deeper with this person but, for whatever reason, I didn’t. I was all the more surprised when, a few hours later, in a different setting altogether, someone responded exactly the same to me in response to my greeting them. This time I had to dig a little more deeply.

“I like the music; I like to praise God,” was the response to my question about why wait until Sunday. It was followed by, “I don’t get out much during the week, I am so busy and there isn’t enough time.”

I totally get it. It is hard for me, a priest, husband and father to keep my own life balanced and in some semblance of sanity. I know that many, if not most Christians struggle to honour their relationship with God and their family and friends amid the myriad of demands on their time. This is clearly having an impact on church life and our society in general; our entire walk with God.

We are people of the Sabbath. God created the Sabbath not for God but for us (Mark 2:27). But if soccer is on Monday and Friday and dance is on Wednesday and hockey is, of course, on Sunday morning, how do we bring God into focus? Where is the Sabbath? How can we dial down the busyness to hear the still voice of God saying, “I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” (Isaiah 43:2)

I am not a very legalistic Christian – much to the chagrin of some – I have enough lists of things to do that remain undone, and have rarely (emphasis on rarely not never!) found following lists of dos and don’ts to be that effective in my ability to be open to God’s grace. I am, however, profoundly fed by the rhythm of daily prayer.

Brother Lawrence gives us a sustaining glimpse of learning how to practice the presence of God in the kitchen as he prayerfully went about his chores. He knew that God has a very long track record of gently and persistently bringing us to life through Jesus Christ. God is intimately inviting us closer to God every moment of every day. It is this intimacy that draws us to focus on the other, our families, friends and those in need around us.

So, what prayer will you say when you are in the kitchen…or in the bleachers at the rink? If the word ‘thank you’ comes to mind enjoy it, hold on to it and then release it back to God. Gratitude is a key to a rhythm of sustaining prayer. Allow this thank you to do its work as you load the dishwasher. It is a thank you that may lead you to sit with a cup of tea, hold onto a verse of Scripture and go for a walk. You will be amazed at how the kingdom breaks in. It may change what you think and feel when you next walk to the Communion rail to take, eat and drink. It may even help you deal better with the chronic stress you have been experiencing.

Thank you will help lead you to the great anticipation of sustaining union with our incarnate God. 

Praise God now… and praise God in three days too.