They're lined up like soldiers on review. One after another over the next three months plus they come with their own unique themes and both traditional and contemporary modes of expression. We have packed these late fall and winter months with enough holidays and special commemorations to allow us to survive the rest of the year. This is great for those involved in the celebrations. It is exhausting for those who do most of the planning and work.
Around here my churches are involved not only in revivals, but also homecomings and fall festivals during October. Church members are begging for candy donations and volunteers to handle the games. You have the special meetings and all the preparation meetings for the special meetings. Unchurched people are being invited to hear the gospel, see how much there is to eat on Homecoming Sunday, and hear some preacher from out of the past.
October is over one day and the talk surrounds the coming Veterans Day service where the church belonging to God gets turned over to the government and you're lucky to find a Christian flag anywhere. Even while plans are being made for this event, the leadership is thinking ahead to the Thanksgiving service on the Tuesday or Wednesday evening prior to that day of feasting. A handful of churches have no mid-week service at that time. Rather they have a special dinner on Thanksgiving Day itself to give a destination to those who have no place to go or anyone with whom to share the day. The church says, "We intend to be your family." Others don't go to the church building at all. They go to the local food ministry and serve dinner from mid morning to mid afternoon, delaying their own celebration until the evening.
The smell of turkey is not out of the kitchen before Advent Sunday arrives. Actually in central North Carolina as might be true in your area, Christmas decorations and craft ideas have been on sale since early September. Advent just marks the beginning of the Christian focus upon the season and reflects nothing of the actions in the marketplace. Among Baptists this four week season can include an inaugural Advent service, recognition of each of the four Sundays of Advent, choir presentations, children's plays, small group dinners and times of socializing, candlelight services, celebrations of the Eucharist, a Christmas Eve service, churchwide parties at which the jolly old elf may show up, and an additional emphasis on doing something for the poor and world mission efforts.
The last poinsettia plant heads out the door and the committee gets the church ready for the annual New Year's Eve service to welcome in the coming year with the prayer that it will be better than the last. Some such services last only an hour or so leaving little time to party. Other congregations make a night of it with dinner on the 31st and breakfast on the 1st, my kind of party. God is placed right in the middle of this celebration of new beginnings, a most appropriate recognition of the One who gives and restores all life.
These special days for the most part are recognized by our society with little attention paid to the revelation of the Divine that is possible in each one. The commercialization seems uppermost with some lip service given to the importance of taking time to strengthen ties among family and friends. The Christian must make the intentional effort in our secular society to note the role of God's involvement in history on these significant days.
One last day must be included in this list, a day that receives little recognition in our churches or our society. Yet it represents one of the great freedoms for which our ancestors in the past and our family members today have stood up and defended even if it meant dying. In a society that is becoming increasingly hostile to religion in general and Christianity in particular, we must remember Religious Freedom Day (religiousfreedomday.com).
Established by President Bill Clinton early in his administration, January 16 has been proclaimed Religious Freedom Day every year since by each sitting president. This day was set side not to declare our country free from religion, but rather a country in which every individual would be free to express their personal religious faith or lack thereof without concern for persecution or governmental interference. This day celebrates a right that was recognized in our legal codes as early as the Virginia Resolutions of 1786.
All of the special days we celebrate as Christians, not only during these fall and winter months but also throughout the year, are ours to enjoy because we have this freedom. Muslims enjoy the same freedom during the month of Ramadan. Those of the Jewish faith can celebrate Hanukkah with the same freedom from persecution. When groups tell us we cannot, then we must practice our freedom with even greater determination. Only then will all these religious occasions regardless of our chosen faith remain special for our children and generations yet to come.
