We've had a great summer, a somewhat carefree summer, but now it's over and it's time to buckle down and get into some kind of sensible routine. (The munching has ceased, so I now have her sorting the different cereal grains into separate piles--there are 7--to buy me a little more time!)
September, for me, has always seemed more like the beginning of a New Year than January and knowing that it is the beginning of the Church Year, gives me a strange mixture of anticipation and dread...apprehension. That's what it's called!
On the one hand, it's a fresh start. Another chance to understand more fully the power and beauty of the liturgical calendar. Another opportunity to recommit to trying to pray regularly with my children throughout the day. On the other hand, it's time to start all over again. Nothing changes in the liturgical pattern from year to year in the Orthodox church. In fact, not much changes from Sunday to Sunday. Most Wednesdays and Fridays are the same too: cereal and nutmilk for breakfast, hummus wrap for lunch, lentils for supper, and so it goes. And there are problems in the church--age old problems that likely won't change in my lifetime. (This is one reason why I can comfortably list Orthodoxy among my list of "Earthly Cares," ethereal though the liturgy may sometimes be...) Here we go again, I think. ("Again and again, we pray to the Lord." And again. And again. And again...) But wait? What's this about "coming soon"?
A "soon" that lasts 2000 years could seem like someone's idea of a cruel joke. On the other hand, each of our short, short lives bears testimony to that soon. I realize with every week, month and year, that time is just speeding up as I get older. (Maybe that's part of why I started this blog: I want so desperately to slow it down, to capture these little moments that make up the fabric of human life...)
Well, I need to help my daughter "do a butterfly with paint" (you know, as opposed to the crayons I suggested.) So I'm off. Happy New Year, everyone!
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