Knox Vancouver

Fighting HEAT in the Season of Ordinary Time

Heat is sneaky. It makes us happy, up to a point. Then saps life away from us, without notice or understanding, as we exponentially over heat. A price paid when life is not lived intentionally.

As the summer heat becomes oppressive, we survive by noticing our discomfort and taking action. Whether that means walking through a cool, air-conditioned mall or soaking our feet in a bathtub of ice-cold water, these simple acts rely on the awareness of a problem and an intentional choice to participate in our own relief. Today, the heat of climate change serves as a powerful metaphor for our daily lives. Multiple crises are boiling over all at once, needing a similar vital mix of awareness and action.

We are overheating everywhere in our daily struggles. Consider the environmental whiplash: recent forest fires near Yellowknife and Lytton, rain flooding Edmonton one day and then the choking smell of wildfire smoke blocking out the sun the next. At the same time, global wars simmer over into the neighborhood harmony of cities like Vancouver, as protesters pick sides. Even the local grocery store brings a different kind of burn. Skyrocketing prices leave families struggling to pay for dinner in the face of crop failures and beef shortages, compounding a growing cost-of-living crisis that includes relentless rent and mortgage pressures. These everyday problems are the direct, painful impacts of a world operating at a dangerous maximum, where pressure keeps building while old safety valves no longer react fast enough.

Surviving this universal simmer points to the danger of being a passive bystander. Heat sneaks in to take the lives of those who fall asleep. Survival only comes with situational awareness and intentional participation.

Awareness recognizes not just the drought and flames, but the winds that fuel them. Understanding the interconnectedness of our crises so we are not blindsided by how they feed into one another is key. But awareness alone is just watching the thermometer rise. We must couple it with intentional participation by refusing to succumb to apathy or isolation. Active engagement builds community resilience, holding institutions accountable, and making conscious consumption choices provide proven paths to cooling down the heat. While the best route forward isn’t always obvious, working with and supporting our communities, as we look toward the horizon, is a proven way to manage natural fear and greed. It’s a kind of personal growth that leads to community change, which ripples outward. Fortunately, living the gospel at all times and when necessary using words, are a fundamental part of our community prospering down our path forward together.

The church season of Ordinary Time focuses steady, quiet growth in faith and love. It’s a time to deepening relationships; not necessarily with grand gestures, but through consistency, listening, and presence. Open your heart to those around you. Trust that small connections can grow into meaningful bonds.
We are in this together !

Good Reads … for this summers Ordinary time

by Jeff Goodell

An urgent, factual telling about how heat sneaks in quietly killing in ways not initially obvious. For example, by forcing the migration of insects.

by Ronald Rolheiser

A guide that brings grace to relinquishing control, while navigating the later years of life. Embrace the wisdom of aging faithfully.

by John Fugelsang

A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds
(New York Times
Best Seller)

by Bruce Feiler

Push back loneliness, and digital saturation. Everyday people, from boomers to Gen Z, invent fresh ways to forge thriving communities in the process

by Joshua Becker

Jesus’s teaching to give away possessions is not about deprivation. It is the formula to experience purpose, passion, fulfillment, and meaning.

by Ryan Burgh

A compelling case about the need for churches now more than ever. Aas spaces where people of different backgrounds and beliefs can come together

by Richard Chung

A Quiet Collection of Reflections on Faith, Identity, and Ordinary Life
by Richard
(Knox Good Reads
Best Seller)

by Kristin Kobes Du Mez

How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation

(New York Times
Best Seller)

by Dr. Dan McClellan

What We Get Right (and Wrong) About What Scripture Really Says
(New York Times
Best Seller)