text: The Rev. Twila Smith
  Grace & Mediator, Allentown
  “If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy;
  and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.”
  – Romans 11:16
  We’re trying things. At both parishes where I serve, we’ve been launching new programs and lots of one-offs, trying to figure things out and learn as we go. From the inside, our efforts can look a lot like a quirky, homemade, YouTube video. It’s not polished, but we’re putting it out there. This is the pilgrimage of the ordinary, the everyday.
  There are moments, on this ordinary way, when all we can manage is to get the meal on the table – never mind that it spills out over the only platter we can find, the linens are a bit stained, and the bread is crunchy today. With zeal, we recruit more volunteers, attempt to get organized, try again, and often end up picking an array of things off the floor when too-full boxes break. Most days, we’re a mess.
  Yet even on the worst days, our intent is a holy pursuit. St. Paul’s wisdom for the early church reminds us that despite the mere remnants of holy appearance we can find among us, with our intent – our offering – whatever we give to God and break open to share with others is holy. All of it.
  Most days on this ordinary way, we look anything but holy. We stumble, we spill things, we fall. And we are holy because we walk this Holy Way. Beneath the steps of every church, of every faithful traveler, there is a path supported by holy roots, connecting us with one another and the One who knows our every intention. And everything that grows from this path will be holy.