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It’s finally time again for the cultural observance of some special “holy days” and their seasons. I am so happy to host this journey – a journey designed simply to help us go deeper into the meaning of the seasons and days. Don’t worry. You won’t find any negative stuff here. There is just too much good to say about holy days and no reason to complain about commercialization, etc. Because we may get things out of order, but at least we do get them. I simply want to celebrate the fact that our culture observes the holy days.
Many people look forward to the holidays. I sure do. I assume you do, too, because you are reading this. But why? Why is this time of year so special?
In chronological order:
1) All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween)
2) All Hallows’ Day (All Saints’ Day)
3) Thanksgiving Day
4) Advent
5) Christmas Eve
6) Christmas Day
7) New Year’s Eve
8) New Year’s Day
9) Valentine’s Day
10) Mardi Gras
Annual celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries, and national holidays like Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran’s Day is special, too, of course. But the days and seasons we want to focus on here are unique. They are special for one reason. That reason is that during the holidays as a culture they cause us to, of course, look up. And we look up together.
After Halloween (which is today) the days will start getting shorter quicker. The cold will eventually creep in. It will seep into our homes and our bones and maybe even into our hearts a little. The darkness is a problem when it gets that thick for months at a time. Pipes freeze. Plants die. Windshields have to be defrosted. Discouragement and loneliness come. And they’re even closer than usual – too close for comfort.
But… one night soon something will happen. Imagine:
While the cold and dark still feel a little bit welcome and exciting to you (because… “cold and dark” also means “Christmas is coming“…) you walk out into the crisp air and slip your hands into your coat pockets. You’re just going out to get your phone out of the car, but something makes you – child-like – stop to see if you can see your breath vaporized. You shape your mouth like a good choir singer and exhale slowly with some force but no voice. You can see it! It’s just as you thought. The air is deathly still except for your little puff cloud. You stand there looking up as it clears, and as the cold fills your lungs you realize you see more than was expected. You see more than just darkness and empty cold. There is something beyond your breath… close enough to touch. The cloud is gone, and you witness a breath-taking, spectacular night sky.
The stars shine brilliant and clear against the cobalt deep. Beautiful! You say to yourself, “Wow. It’s so close!”
Yes, it is. It is close. And that is the gift of the holy days. They are the fullness in the empty. They are the story that guarantees not to leave us hanging on the edge of all our deadlines. We get from these observances a sense of cosmic motion and of swinging out toward eternity, perhaps for another trip on earth around the sun. Because of the holy days we do not run in place in the elliptical orbit like a panicky runner in a bad dream, stalling out in doom and gloom at the apogee.
No. We see Light and it dazzles us. It warms and draws us yet closer. We lean into our existence a little. Into the mystery. Increased darkness would be unbearable after even a few weeks if we did not anticipate stopping to look up to the heavens together each mid-winter. We look up together and see the clarity that enfolds our lives – our messy, small, beautiful lives. That is the clarity the holy days bring. It’s the clarity that a single, bright, silent, holy night gives us each year.
(Check back tomorrow for a post about All Saints’ Day, November 1st. In it we will not only see why we have All Saints’ Day and why it is worth celebrating but also explore the purpose and fitting nature of Halloween in a well-balanced culture.)