Grace and Peace to you in the name of the Holy and Blessed Trinity!

This month we will finally enter summer. We have already had days of 70 degrees and even an 80+ degree day. But as I write this we are under a freeze warning, and is that what we get for living in Ohio?

Also as I write this, we have come through our busiest time of year. We have passed through a wonderful Easter season, our Children have presented their Spring play and our Sunday School has wrapped up for the year. The Youth have led us in worship and we have confirmed another class of young men and women into full membership. In the midst of this we have celebrated significant “holy” days. We have celebrated Pentecost and the first Sunday in June this year is Trinity Sunday. (Wasn’t it kind of church universal to name a day to celebrate our church?:-) As we turn to summer we see that there will be a dry spell until the next liturgical holiday. (Next up is Reign of Christ Sunday – November 22^nd)

Just before we close out this chapter and work toward our next “holy”day season we squeeze one more liturgical day into our calendar. May 21^st was Ascension Day. The period of time from Easter until Pentecost is known as the Great Fifty Days. The Christian doctrine of the Ascension holds that Jesus' body ascended to heaven in the presence of his apostles following his resurrection, and that in heaven he sits at God’s right hand. The most influential account of the Ascension is in the Acts of the Apostles 1:1-11, where Jesus is taken up bodily into heaven forty days after his resurrection, as witnessed by his apostles, after giving the Great Commission with a prophecy to return. The imagery of Christ's Ascension is related to the broader theme of his exaltation and heavenly welcome, derived from Hebrew scripture. The image of Jesus rising bodily into the heavens reflects the ancient view that heaven was above the earth.

We speak a lot about being Easter people – those who celebrate Jesus conquering of death. But what does it mean to be Ascension people? Integral to the Ascension is Jesus commissioning of the disciples for their earthly ministry before he went “to sit at the right hand of God.” In Jesus last words before he was taken up we see clearly our call to be his hands and feet in this world. So in the midst of the “ordinary” season we are beginning we can focus on this last “holy” day and remember our call to be Ascension people – to be disciples of the living Christ.

Grace for the journey,

Rev. Daniel J. Doty

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