Summertime, and the living is easy. It’s the first full day of summer today, but I’m not sure how easy that is for folks in Florida. It’s terribly hot in the summertime, and it means hurricane season is upon us again. Yuck and yuck again.

The church year doesn’t have a season called summer–it’s simply time after Pentecost and it lasts until November. I was taught that this time of year was called “the church’s half-year” as opposed to “the Lord’s half-year.” The Lord’s half-year is from Advent through Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and the Day of Pentecost. It follows the  life of Jesus from his expected coming until the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The rest of the time is the church’s half-year. The Gospels for this season tend to be about the teachings of Jesus or of his miracles or sometimes controversies of Jesus with opponents.  You can tell it’s this time of year because the vestments and paraments are green. You can also tell because so many church activities go on hiatus.

With everything winding down, I like to recall the words of my Aunt Martha to the Sunday School students as the regular session closed until fall. “Remember, you don’t take a vacation from God.” That’s still an important message. Ordinary days can upset progress in faith because there’s no special focus. Don’t let that happen. Let these days of summer be a time for added devotion. Find a spiritual book to read or vary your way of praying. Let all days be the Lord’s days.

Read Genesis 8:22 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne