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VIEWPOINT
Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer

Yvonne Mostat

I stood in the church foyer and asked several people what came to mind first when they thought of summer. Shirley Martens immediately said “Roses.” Joe Heger, handing out bulletins, said “Fun.” Ruth Klassen said “Sunshine and long evenings”, Peter Huebert touted it as “the best season of the year”, Elizabeth Konrad said with certainty “Flowers”, Lonna Peters surprised me with the word “Watermelon”, and my husband said “Hiking and canoeing.”

When I was 17, a long time ago, my brother told me that Satan always works overtime in the summer. I figured: Who did he think he was, having a special understanding of Satan? In those days, nobody could afford trailers, summer cottages and long breaks away from work – or church for that matter. We had Sunday evening services, and most people were around during the summer. Now that I am getting older, I have thought about the subject a little more. Summer is good, very good, but we leave our pastors wondering if they will have anyone to preach to, and sometimes the sun makes us lazy. Attending church away from home can be stretching and challenging, but also impersonal, and sometimes the time away becomes an excuse not to worship in God’s house at all. We figure we can get by on personal devotions, some sacred music and a snooze in the sun – but when this stretches to more than several weeks, something happens. It becomes more difficult to grab oneself by the scruff of the neck and head off to church.

These days, Sunday evening church services have become a thing of the past, and Sunday school for adults has now largely gone by the wayside. Was the former practice just legalistic, or are we on a downward slide? I asked several people and the answer was the same: “Changing times” and “That’s the way it is today.”

I asked myself again: “What would I do if I wasn’t held accountable in some way?” I like to think that I would still have the desire and self-discipline to get to church wherever I was. I am a little worried, though, about what my brother said about the “devil working overtime in summer”. He didn’t really have any special insight into the devil, but he did know that when we get lazy, the devil sees an opportunity and sows seeds of doubt and disbelief. I know that we need rest and holidays. I also know we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25) and that we are not to become weary in well doing (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

Yvonne Mostat is a member of South Langley MB Church in Langley, B.C.

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Last modified July 12, 2002.

© 2002 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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