A greater narrative afoot

At his blog A New and Unending Kind of Life, Rob Lord included a quote from the book From Emergent Self that I found interesting. The emphasis below is Rob's:

There is a simple maxim by which I live my life: Be faithful in the small things while living in the bigger story. There is a greater narrative afoot, a grand and heroic epic of which I'm a part. I can grasp something so much better than happiness--meaning and significance played out in my life here and now. And when I'm really aware of the life of meaning to which I'm called, I realize that I'd give up a lot to participate in such a grand story. And I realize, at times, I already have. Perhaps that's part of what it Ecclesiastes means when it tells us God has implanted eternity in our hearts. We were made for vast, eternal things.

Here's the real deal: in God's kingdom, there's no such thing as an ordinary life, an ordinary day.

But we must awaken to that larger narrative. We must look for the threads of the story in our lives and relationships. Sometimes, when the plot feels completely broken, we must trust that the threads of meaning are really there. As we walk with him, God is authoring our stories, and however insignificant they might feel, our stories are an intricate part of the bigger story he is writing in redemptive history.

Celebrate Advent
One way to help connect your life to the greater narrative is though keeping the church year, especially the seasons of Advent and Lent. This year Advent begins this coming Sunday, December 3. To assist in observing this season of preparation for Christmas, King of Peace provides a free booklet, Celebrating Advent in the Home available in print form at the church and online: .PDF format here. Included is a nightly Advent Wreath service as well as other practical suggestions for marking the four weeks leading up to Christmas. We also offer web pages with information on the season here: Celebrate Advent.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church