Discussing
Holy days and holidays, from Epiphany to Songkran

The blessing in throwing back a drink. Great conclusion to a wonderful article, Karissa.
Cheers,
Tim
(timfall.wordpress.com)

Thank you for this beautiful and connective piece! I struggle to make room for sacred time during the 'holy days'. It's not because I'm too busy or not concerned with the true joy and solemnity of the occasions. It is because I have difficulty finding sacred time that feels authentic- not so much at church but in my every day life.
There was so much authenticity in this article and I look forward to pondering some of these ideas this Advent season.

Thanks, Tim!

I agree that sometimes sacred times seem limited to times at church. I try to see ordinary tasks like washing the dishes, packing lunches, folding laundry, and interacting with people in my job as moments of grace and sacred actions - yes, even when they sometimes feel like drudgery!

What a beautiful reflection, Karissa. There is so much beauty and truth captured in liturgy.

I have been reflecting lately on the fact that it is okay that we have "invented" so many of the holidays/holy days we celebrate. It is part of our human nature to find opportunities to invest specific times and rituals with meaning, and turn them into regular times of reflection and gratitude for us, as well as create "teachable moments" for the generations to come.

The Jews were commanded to keep certain feasts, but they added the feasts of Hanukkah and Purim by rabbinic decree: holidays they declared to remember specific times of deliverance. I think of this when I hear people giving us slack about Christmas being a "pagan holidays"... And remember that actually that doesn't matter. Like the Hebrews in the past, even if God didn't command us specifically to remember Christmas, we have the freedom to create liturgies and practices which celebrate the incarnation: the first step in the greatest deliverance story of them all.