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One of our spiritual practices at Joy is to wear RED on Reformation Sunday. Red is the color of the fire of the Holy Spirit. That same fire drove Martin Luther to risk his life and take a stand against some of the teachings of the church by nailing the 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg. I also learned this week that RED was the color of church doors in the Middle Ages to signal that this was a place of sanctuary for the poor, the hunted, the sick. And RED is traditionally the color of the wine we share in communion each Sunday, remembering Christ’s blood of forgiveness. Fire, resistance, sanctuary, communion. Good reasons to wear RED.

Reformation Sunday is also a time to open to what we might want to re-form in our lives. I learned long ago that all churches--and all long-term relationships, businesses and personal as well, go through a predictable process of reformation. An easy way to remember this process is this: Relationships FORM, NORM, STORM and then REFORM. First a group forms and becomes comfortable in that relationship which becomes the norm. Then inevitably, there is a time of change or conflict which causes disruption or a storm. And the group must reform the relationship which begins the process again.

The spiritual practice of reforming our lives is a healthy and natural process, but not without risk. That familiar instinctual fear of change always comes up too. But with courage, and a love of the truth-- like that of Martin Luther—we can ride out the storm and come to a new norm of greater freedom and wisdom.

A spiritual practice? Notice if there is a place in your life in need of reform. Notice what fears or resistance comes up as you consider it. Take it to prayer and meditation. What does God say about that? Is it time to take your own stand?

Pastor Marcia Wakeland is a retired ELCA pastor, a spiritual director and a listening advocate. She is interested in the actual experience of having faith and how that is lived out. She can be reached at mwakeland@gmail.com for comments or more questions Her ongoing blog of living out spiritual practices is listeninglife.live