Liturgical Learning

This started as a reply to Alana's comment on yesterday's post that just got too long for the comment box...

I spent most of my life as a Baptist, of one flavor or another, so the liturgical calendar was never part of my tradition. My Sweet Baboo grew up Methodist, with a fairly significant connection to the liturgical calendar; we collided on our first New Year's Day together when I began to dismantle the Christmas tree to the accompaniment of the Tournament of Roses parade, as my mother always did.

'What are you doing?' he inquired, just a little shocked.

'Well, I'm taking the tree down,' I replied in that 'isn't-it-obvious?' tone of voice.

'But it's still Christmas!' he protested.

'Huh?' I replied, wondering what he was talking about.

He explained to me the liturgical calendar that included the 12 days of Christmas...something I thought was just a counting song...and the significance of Epiphany.

And I realized he was right...it was still Christmas. Now, unless there is a compelling reason otherwise, the tree stays up until Jan. 6.

But my real education on the liturgical calendar came from one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors, Madeleine L'Engle. It's one of her Crosswicks Journals, The Irrational Season. I didn't realize Advent was an eschatological season until I read that book, but it makes sense...preparing for the observation of Christ's first advent should make us more keenly aware of preparing for His return.

Anyway, I've kind of grown nostalgic for a tradition that didn't include all the Christmas broo-ha during what should be the Advent season...and now, even threatens to eclipse Thanksgiving.

What would it be like to celebrate Thanksgiving, then the Advent Season, then a worship experience to celebrate God becoming man and 12 days of feasting and enjoying friends, capped by a (simple) gift exchange on Epiphany?

It'd sure be different....