Ship Shape

Ship-shape

We often hear it, the idea of putting our house in order.  When we use that terminology we are usually referring to a very final bit of organization.  We think of the terminally ill patient who needs to update a will and take one last chance to make peace with God and man.

We've been working on putting our house in order as well, but not for that reason.  With a long expected house guest arriving, home school group activities, choir concerts, a Christmas party to give, all in addition to the regular frenzied pace of daily life, we've done a good deal of scurrying around lately.

There's one important bit of scurrying I didn't mention, though.  And that is the extra Advent services we are attending on Wednesday evenings.  Why would anyone in his right mind add a couple of hours a week in church services during an already overwhelming time of year?  It's exactly for the purpose of putting our house in order.  Taking some time out of a scattered and often bewildering life to gather with believers and celebrate a tried and true liturgy where each element fits into the grand scheme of things just so, where peace and order can be found, where we can receive God's promises just as we knew we could, this is truly putting our houe in order.

In the next few weeks I hope to do some research into the parts of the divine service.  The believers who have gone ahead of us left many very orderly pactices which are rich and rewarding.  May their Lord and ours bless us as we learn from the practices of those who have long since joined the Church at rest.