Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Hey Baby, you Doing Anything between Now and Pentecost?
So, Easter is past and, by the ancient Christian calendar, Jesus has, in some way, risen to life again. What does that mean? Okay, for most people, absolutely nothing, but I hope that some of us can begin to think differently.
So, Jesus died on passover on Friday and was raised from the dead on Sunday, and that is what Easter was originally intended to celebrate. It was supposed to be a time when we start our lives over and forget everything we skrewed up in the past, right? Then, if you look in the book of Acts, Jesus stayed around for 40 days, evidently just spending time with his followers.
Alright, so, I'm from a Christian background that is very uncomfortable with Christian holidays because many of them have pagan elements, so I don't really understand why other groups act the way they do. Why is Lent such a big deal to some people (by choice they stop indulging in certain things for 40 days, and complain about it), but after Jesus rises and we get him back and he is with us, we don't go out and enjoy life to celebrate his pressence? It seems much more Christian to go out and celebrate (in responsibile ways, of course) over these 40 days during which we are (symbolically) in his pressence than to go out and binge on everything, no matter how self- destructive, on that moronic invention, Fat Tuesday.
Following some very good military advice: only give orders that your soldiers will be willing to follow; I want you to go out there and give me 40 (okay, 37 and 1/2) days of acting like your best friend is hanging around with you before he goes very far away. I wish that you were all here with me, we could do this together, but go out there and enjoy life and I'll be with you in spirit. Live like it makes a difference.
P.S. I kind of think we ought to live joyfully every day, but 40 days is a good start.
So, Jesus died on passover on Friday and was raised from the dead on Sunday, and that is what Easter was originally intended to celebrate. It was supposed to be a time when we start our lives over and forget everything we skrewed up in the past, right? Then, if you look in the book of Acts, Jesus stayed around for 40 days, evidently just spending time with his followers.
Alright, so, I'm from a Christian background that is very uncomfortable with Christian holidays because many of them have pagan elements, so I don't really understand why other groups act the way they do. Why is Lent such a big deal to some people (by choice they stop indulging in certain things for 40 days, and complain about it), but after Jesus rises and we get him back and he is with us, we don't go out and enjoy life to celebrate his pressence? It seems much more Christian to go out and celebrate (in responsibile ways, of course) over these 40 days during which we are (symbolically) in his pressence than to go out and binge on everything, no matter how self- destructive, on that moronic invention, Fat Tuesday.
Following some very good military advice: only give orders that your soldiers will be willing to follow; I want you to go out there and give me 40 (okay, 37 and 1/2) days of acting like your best friend is hanging around with you before he goes very far away. I wish that you were all here with me, we could do this together, but go out there and enjoy life and I'll be with you in spirit. Live like it makes a difference.
P.S. I kind of think we ought to live joyfully every day, but 40 days is a good start.
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I think there are some good reasons for observing the liturgical calendar, even though pagan rituals and holidays have influenced it. We know that we ought to celebrate the life, death, resurrection, and new-life of Jesus constantly. But we just can’t keep all those ideas in our collective heads at the same time. Liturgy helps us to move through the story of scripture on a regular basis so we don’t hang out too often in one place (e.g. constant emphasis on the death of the Christ in the communion meal).
And those that follow the liturgical calendar aren’t the only ones who have lost sight of the purpose behind what they do (2 songs and a prayer anyone? How about the invitation song? Or weekly communion?). It is a natural human failing to be consumed by the rhythm and to cease giving thought to the music.
I put this quote into a comment on my blog, but I think it applies to this discussion as well. Elton Trueblood, when once asked by Dr. John Savage what word he would use to summarize the practical meaning of the Christian life said, "And." Then he went on to explain, “The healthiest people are those who have learned to live in the ‘and’.” We need to learn to live between the traditions of the past and the innovations of the future, between the familiar cadences of liturgy and the fresh melody of free-church.
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And those that follow the liturgical calendar aren’t the only ones who have lost sight of the purpose behind what they do (2 songs and a prayer anyone? How about the invitation song? Or weekly communion?). It is a natural human failing to be consumed by the rhythm and to cease giving thought to the music.
I put this quote into a comment on my blog, but I think it applies to this discussion as well. Elton Trueblood, when once asked by Dr. John Savage what word he would use to summarize the practical meaning of the Christian life said, "And." Then he went on to explain, “The healthiest people are those who have learned to live in the ‘and’.” We need to learn to live between the traditions of the past and the innovations of the future, between the familiar cadences of liturgy and the fresh melody of free-church.
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