Just Show Up



 Rogation:  n. Christianity In western Christendom, prescribed days of prayer and fasting traditionally for the harvest, usually the three days before Ascension Day.  Observed the three days prior to the Ascension.

My biggest fan thinks I should submit some of my posts to the Upper Room devotional.  I am so grateful for her confidence in me and if I ever do write for real, I am hiring her as my publicist. I think the Upper Room would reject most of my posts because they are not very methodist and they are too long.  For instance, today- Rogation Day, doubt it is mentioned very much in mainline Protestant church devotionals.  I don't think Max Lucado talks about it much and I have never heard a sermon preached on it.  And midrash probably does not have a place in devotional books and who but me asks why was Peter fishing naked and what is the significance of that?  I was raised in the buckle of the bible belt south and the most  non-offensive way I know to describe my church of origin is evangelical fundamental Christian.  Once, during those crazy introduce yourself exercises, I said a was a recovering fundamentalist.  That is accurate.   Barbara Taylor Brown in Leaving Church says:  "some people are lucky enough to have a faith that they are born and die with...all home grown...and if you are even luckier, somewhere along the way it falls apart."  I am even luckier, which is why I am not sure my posts would make very good devotional reading.  Ms. Taylor-Brown, (who is a very good preacher, BTW), also says: "trust God to be God even when you can not say for sure who God is, trust God to sustain the world although you can not say for sure how that happens.  Trust God to hold you and those you love in life and death, without giving you one shred of evidence that it is so." 

I think I understand why the early church had to set down certain dogmas, but the older I become, I find myself less in the believing business and more in the beholding business.  I am drawn more to the mysteries than the certainties and I guess I am learning that there really is not much certainty when it comes to God. 

I find the ancient practices of the early church much more suited to the beholding business and the mystery. Hence, my love of fixed hour prayer, the liturgical calendar, the rituals. 

I have always wondered what a Rogation Day was and unless you are pre-Vatican II, I am guessing you don't know either.  So I googled it for you.  Just in case this has been keeping you up at night. 

Rogation Days are an ancient custom which has been being observed since the 5th century.  Rogation—to ask, as in “interrogate”—we ask God’s blessing of the harvest, of the earth and sea.  We remind ourselves that we are the stewards of Creation, neither the authors nor the owners of it.  Originally an agricultural observance, it has been broadened and made more inclusive—the crops, the catch of the sea, the fruits of our labors in all their aspects.
An ancient pagan custom was “beating the bounds”, with a procession walking out the boundary lines of the village and marking the bounds with stakes.  Sticks of willow and birch were used to strike the stakes; hence, “beating the bounds”.  Subsequently the custom became incorporated into Rogation Days celebration, particularly in England, in which the parishes are clearly defined, contiguous with adjacent parishes.  Rogation Day was celebrated by walking the boundaries of the parish and acknowledging in this way our tangible stewardship.  It gets way more complicated than this, but that is the simplified version.  Who knew?

So until I opened my BCP tonight to read Evening Office, I did not realize it was Rogation Day and without realizing it today, I was celebrating Rogation Day.  I planted and blessed and prayed over my plants.   A very, kind stranger at Lowes was celebrating Rogation Day too.  I am not sure if that was her intent, but when she saw my cart full of flowers, she pointed out the clearance section to me. So to me, her ROAK felt like a celebration.   I put all of my intended purchases back and headed to the clearance section.  All of these plants looked half dead, forgotten and ugly and in desparate need of attention.  Not only did she save me a ton of money, I also ended up with some very cool perenials that might look half dead, but I am sure since I planted them on Rogation Day, they will survive.  It is part of the whole mystery and beholding.  During the Great Days of Easter, the Church fathers and mothers have us reading parables about sowing and planting, asking and receiving, blessing and giving and praying and thanking.  And I think we forget that the mystery of the Resurrection happens everyday...it is as Annie Dillard said in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek:

“Beauty and grace are performed

whether or not we will or sense them.

The least we can do is try to be there.”  

And as I smiled and thanked that stranger profusely today...I was reminded again that the least I can do is show up.  Today might not be the best day for you to experience your resurrection moment and today might not look so promising and maybe your faith has blown up too and maybe you have found yourself waiting for life to spring from death and maybe you have find yourself wondering just how far you will fall before you feel the hands of God holding you.  Perhaps today you are undergoing some huge trauma and your old life has ended.  Perhaps you don't know who you are going to be tomorrow in your new life.  However confused your life may be right now...show up.

All really is grace and counting joys today...

clearance rack flowers
strangers that point the way
rich, black warm, moist potting soil
surprising insight
birthdays
cold, iced tea
ice cold water
exfoliating scrubs
thick lotion
the season finale of Fringe