Holiday Thoughts
The other day I had a volunteer at the library offhand mention as she was signing in that the 12 days of Christmas must be starting since we're about 12 days away. It hit me that that wasn't quite right so (after a discreet Google to make sure I remembered correctly) I noted that the 12 days of Christmas actually start on Christmas, lasting until Epiphany. I guess I got a bit "Mr Know it all," with her as I'm prone to do because she smiled and said basically, "I'm Hindu, I guess I don't really know that." Of course then I had to admit even most Christians around here probably didn't know that either. I can recall my old Disciples of Christ church in Thorntown having Ash Wednesday and Pentecost but not the Baptist one I went to from Jr High to High School.
It does strike me though, other than the observance of Easter and Christmas day, most evangelical Christians in the US don't seem to follow the events of Christian calender much. And usually not because they're Puritans or anything. We often acknowledge Mother's Day and the 4th of July, but rarely the traditional liturgical year. I realize the historic reasons for doing so, but it seems strange how many church's yearly routine is determined by secular, often commercially driven holidays. If Easter and Christmas weren't so big in the secular world, would evangelicals even make such a big deal about it?
It does strike me though, other than the observance of Easter and Christmas day, most evangelical Christians in the US don't seem to follow the events of Christian calender much. And usually not because they're Puritans or anything. We often acknowledge Mother's Day and the 4th of July, but rarely the traditional liturgical year. I realize the historic reasons for doing so, but it seems strange how many church's yearly routine is determined by secular, often commercially driven holidays. If Easter and Christmas weren't so big in the secular world, would evangelicals even make such a big deal about it?