Much of society has come to celebrate the role of the individual. We love stories that revolve around the solo renegade, the superhero, the maverick, the main character. Meanwhile, the ideals of community and togetherness, while not necessarily destained, rarely receive the same spotlight treatment. Institutions like churches often struggle in this environment. That is, […]
Tag: Spirituality
On Holidays
Throughout the year—both the Church Year and any other calendar year—there are many holidays that have been established over time. Some are truly holy days and others are celebratory in different ways. Some are personally or nationally relevant, and some are simply silly and fun. It is likely neither good nor bad to either partake […]
On the Natural Seasons
As I have personally come to genuinely love the traditional Church Year and its seasons, I have also come to appreciate how it complements the natural seasons of the year. Of course, this observation has been from my Northern Hemisphere (Midwest, United States specially) perspective. I’d be very curious to learn more about how other […]
On Rest Days
Let me begin this post with a bit of a personal confession: My last post was about a month ago and at that time I intended to take only one week off from writing this current blog series. I’d like to say that my unintended, more lengthy pause from writing was a needed rest period, […]
On Ordinary Time
The season of Ordinary Time has arrived. Nowadays though many liturgical cycles call this time of the Church Year “the time after Pentecost” since that sounds more lively and less, well, ordinary. My personal preference is for the old, boring phrase though, and let me explain why. First, the work that God is doing in […]
On Point of View
A recurring theme on this blog has been that of respecting and honoring different perspectives. In the four gospel narratives, there is perhaps no greater point of deviation than what is told in the post-resurrection accounts. Each book seems to have an entirely different take on what happened after Jesus was buried. In the first […]
On the Paschal Moon
Have you ever noticed that there is always a full moon around the lead up to Easter? That is by design and this specific full moon is called the Paschal Moon. The date of Easter is determined by a somewhat cumbersome calculation: the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal (spring) equinox, […]
On Seasonal Side Effects
The various seasons of the Church Year provide opportunities to explore different aspects of our faith. Each season brings with it certain rituals and practices and it can be easy to simply go through the motions without ever growing spiritually. When we choose to fully embrace each season we discover holistic spiritual health that nurtures […]
On Limitations
As we go through the season of Lent, participating in various spiritual practices to challenge our faith, we come to realize our limits. There is a good chance that by the third week of Lent, our original plans for this season of repentance and discipline have been altered, or even abandoned altogether. The Church Calendar […]
On Ancient Rituals
When we follow the Church Calendar, not only do we have the opportunity to practice longstanding traditions of the Church, which connect us to past followers of Jesus; we also have occasions where we get to take part in rituals that go back even further to our ancient ancestors of faith. Ash Wednesday is one […]
Relevant Reformation 