The Beauty of the Church Calendar

A perpetual holiday is a good working definition of hell. – George Bernard Shaw

The title of this blog, "The Celebration Project," could be a little misleading.  One might assume that we think we should be full-on partying and celebrating all the time.  This is NOT the case.  If someone is looking for that kind of life, then might we point you to Rhett and Link and their holiday-celebrating series?

In truth, the church calendar provides plenty of opportunities for fun celebrations, but it is much more than that as well.  There are distinct rhythms, changing seasons with different themes.  There is even a long period of time (Lent), during which the focus is, at least in part, repentance and self-denial… which is hardly “fun.”

Much of the Christian church calendar seems to have taken its cues from the Old Testament feasts schedule.  Right from the beginning, God instituted several rhythms and seasons, comprised of days with specific purposes.

At this point let me point out that I am not a theologian and have never been to seminary.  I have studied the Bible and a few other sources on the following topics, but let’s face it:  I have not done a ton of research.  I have 4 young children who interrupt me approximately every 13 seconds when I am on the computer, so my research time is limited.

But from this layman’s eyes, I see a few specific types of “celebrations” or feast-days in the Old Testament.

1.) There were days set aside for FEASTING.  The Hebrew word, “khag,” meaning “feast” or “festival” occurs 62 times in the Old Testament.  God seems to love a good party.  Take Deuteronomy 16:13-15 as an example:

You must observe the Festival of Shelters for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed. This festival will be a happy time of celebrating with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns. For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the LORD your God at the place he chooses, for it is he who blesses you with bountiful harvests and gives you success in all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.

2.) There were days set aside for RESTING.  Most obvious, of course, is the weekly pause that God ordained in the Ten Commandments: the Sabbath day.   But there were also longer times of rest as well.  For example, in Leviticus 25:3-5, God says,

‘Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. Your harvest’s aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 

3.) There were also times for RE-SETTING.  In Leviticus chapters 25 and 27, God institutes the year of Jubilee, to be celebrated every 50th year, when confiscated property is returned to its original owners and those sold into slavery are set free.  Also, the Day of Atonement each year was meant to be a time of purification, partly involving solemn reflection and rest.

4.) There were days set aside for FASTING.  Leviticus 16, as one example, talks about the Day of Atonement, which was meant as a cleansing time.  God instructed the people to only not work, but also to deny themselves, or in other translations, to fast.


So each year we see patterns, seasons, rhythms.  It’s not all about partying, but it is all about reminding the people who they are, who God is, and what He has done.  The Lord knew we needed different paces, different points of focus to remind us of these things.

The Christian calendar keeps this same idea of healthy rhythm.  The flow of the year is all centered around they story of Christ, some of the days building in anticipation, some of the days celebrating what has already come to pass, some of the days focused on our future.  There are times of repentance, times of rest, times of re-setting, and times of full-on feasting.

Here, then, are some of the beautiful benefits to following the Christian calendar:

• Our memories can be very short, so having these annual reminders is good for us!  

• Having these built-in times of rest and celebration can help us keep a healthy balance in life.  Too often in our culture we just run full-throttle, and then crash.  The patterns that God set up will keep us from that mode. 

• Our celebrations give us a sense of identity.  We are part of God’s family and celebrate His family holidays.

• Special days provide many opportunities for teaching our children about who God is, and who they are in Him.  Holidays are full of hands-on creating and learning.

Join with us this year as we explore and enjoy this rhythmic life!

The Seasonal Life

I was in my early twenties when a wise friend encouraged me to see life as a seasonal endeavor.That good advice was probably given to comfort in a difficult stretch of time. However, those words landed deep and have stayed with me since. They have been incorporated into the way I think about a day or span of time.  In the hard times, Im reminded that things won't stay this way forever. In the times I relish and want to hit "pause", Im encouraged to savor because I know, this too shall pass.

I've lived by this idea of "seasonal living" for quite a while and its been a helpful way of thinking. But, I've been discovering in recent years, that there is so much more to this simple idea that has such appeal and impact.

I grew up in a Christian home, but not in a tradition that followed a liturgy or paid any attention to the Church calendar. So, I had no idea what any of that was about. My guess is that the idea of "vain ritual" was to be avoided at all costs and, as is often the case, the baby went out with the bathwater. It took me a long time to come to terms with my longing for good and healthy ritual while realizing the messages from growing up made the word "ritual" feel like a bad one.

No, I'm a born celebrator. Im always looking for a reason to mark an occasion or make something special. I cant help it, it just comes out of me. Ive also been teased through the years that my favorite word is "intentional". I would say I like to move through the world in a thoughtful and intentional way.I spend time and money intentionally, I invest in relationships intentionally, you get the point.

So, as we starting raising our children, I realized I had this opportunity to create meaningful and defining celebrations for our family. This showed up in a variety of ways. From, how we do birthday's to what we eat the morning after Thanksgiving. All of those things are good and I do believe in small ways, they help shape our family identity. But, thanks in part to my dear friend Amy, I realized my longing for meaningful celebration was really rooted in my longing for more of God.

I was intrigued and began reading about the Christian calendar. I started paying attention to the different seasons and my hearts response to the suggested topics and focus. I felt something come alive in me, like things were aligning and my making sense. I felt anchored in something significant.

Celebrating the church calendar constantly points me to the gospel and what it means for me in the day to day. Different seasons take on a flavor or a focus that cause me to think differently, or search, or wait or repent or celebrate. And, I love best, that these roots go much deeper than the fun little traditions I've created for our family on a whim. These traditions connect me (and us) to this amazing, ancient, God orchestrated marking of time. In fact, we are reading through the Bible over the next two years and I was struck like lightening by a verse I've read dozens and dozens of times.

Genesis 1:14 "And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years". Reading this only encouraged me on this journey to discover the rich and full life of a believer walking with Jesus through each day, week, month, season and year. I want to do that well, to invite my children into God's greater story and to celebrate with deeply rooted joy. This feels like living intentionally at its best. 

Im reminded of Annie Dillard's quote "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives". My dear friend Steph has this hanging on her wall and I should probably look at it every day too. 

I'm thankful it's a journey and not something I have to completely sort before I can enjoy the experience. On that note, here's my favorite translation from Matthew11:28-30 (the Message)

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

So, Im stepping in. I desire to engage in celebrating as we move through the church calendar in concrete and tangible ways. These experiences, practices and rituals only aid the inner work.

For further reading on family identity, here is an interesting article from the New York Times. 

Enjoy!

About The Celebration Project

It is easy to allow our lives and schedules to revolve around different things:  the school-year calendar; the NFL schedule; Hallmark holidays; annual vacation plans.

But over the years, Deb and I each started to look for more meaningful anchors, for purposeful ordering of our families’ days in a year.  Through the wise words of various authors and friends we were introduced to the concept of celebrating the church year: recognizing the rhythms and traditions that have been observed by the church at large for centuries and centuries.

Each generation, it seems, has new ideas, values, philosophies and traditions (Elf on the Shelf anyone?).  While we have no problem with fresh and relevant ideas, we also have come to appreciate that there are a lot of tried-and-true, cross-cultural, and cross-generational traditions that are meaningful for a reason.  They are not just derived from our time and place, but have been upheld through history.  These are anchors!

Holidays—originally “Holy-days,” or days set apart for a purpose – were originally meant as a way to celebrate who God is and what He has done.  We have loved getting back to the roots of these holidays, digging out the elements that help us to celebrate God.

On this site you can expect to find suggestions for how to tangibly celebrate the various holidays and seasons with your family, recommendations for different resources to use, observations we've had in our own lives, and some of the thoughts we have as we walk this journey.

We have experienced more abundant life through these traditions.  We as Christians have more reasons to celebrate than others, so let’s do it!