Another theme I’ve been running with recently, here and elsewhere, is finding our ministry and seeing our faith in the everyday here and now of our daily lives.  The “Almanac for the Soul” also had a quotation that made me think more on this (“Yes, World” by Mary Jean Irion):

Sometimes I wondered if
I had any faith.
I sat down and thought about it.
And when I had had enough
of that I got up
and went on my way.
And that — the getting up
and going  — was faith.

I’ve also been reading “A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants” from The Upper Room (Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck).  It gives commentaries (readings from a variety of sources) on the Revised Common Lectionary (actually, the New Common Lectionary when they did this).  They quote from the Second Vatican Council:

The Sacred Scriptures contain
the Word of God
and, since they are inspired,
really are the Word of God …

This sacred synod urges all the Christian faithful
to learn by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures
the “excelling knowledge of Jesus Christ.”

Therefore they should gladly put themselves
in touch with the sacred text itself …

And let them remember that prayer should accompany
the reading of Sacred Scripture,
so that God and man may talk together;
for “We speak to him when we pray;
we hear him when we read the divine saying.”

So, God is not far away, but very close, and available every day, to talk with.  They also quote someone anonymous abut ministry:

Our Father, we have listened to thy word, and loved it; we have found comfort and inspiration in song and psalter; we have enjoyed the companionship of those who, with kindred minds and hearts, have praised and worshiped thee.  Now help us understand that, as we leave this sacred House of God, we become thy Church in the street.

So we are God’s, living our faith and doing our ministry, out in the streets of our daily lives.  The church community (and our worship in that community) nurtures and strengthens us.  But our faith and ministry are primarily about what we do in the normal, everyday course of our lives.  With God ever-present in all we do or say, whether we have this in mind or not.