Holy Week thoughts (part 1)

[icewolf]

I call this part one because I'm sure I'll be posting on Friday, if not before.

Actually, tazira got me started on my annual spiritual navel-gaze a bit early.

I'm an okay Catholic. I don't make it to church nearly as often as I should. But I try to be a good person and live in accordance with God's and Jesus's teachings on a day-to-day basis. But there's just something about Holy Week. I feel a connection to God, and Jesus in particular, that just isn't there the rest of the year. Maybe it's the coincidence with Passover, which many of my friends--one of my best friends in particular--are preparing for tonight. Sort of priming the pump, as it were.

I don't known what it is, but that feeling in the air makes me even more aware than usual of how I treat others and how--or if--I'm living out the principals I profess.

Comments

[tazira.livejournal.com]

There's definitely something to this time of year; it's always been my favorite. My post from this morning has got me doing a bit of my own spiritual naval-gazing about the religion I was born and raised in, the faith of the Cailleach. I've long since fallen out of the habit of practicing, but it's a sacred time of year for us, too. It's the 'rebirth' part of the cycle, a time so gorgeous and so powerful that even I can lose myself in it. I find it easy to get bitter and depressed in the winter months, and spring rejuvenates me like nothing else I know. Whether it's the force of nature, the power of God, the cycle of rebirth, or just a passel of flowering trees, I'm grateful for it.

[icewolf010.livejournal.com]

It finally occured to me. It's the hope.

After the drudgery of winter, our hopes of warmth and light are being fulfilled.

For me, this is analogous to God's promise that things will be okay. They'll get better, even, if we just keep faith. The worst possible thing happened: God died. But then He rose. I think this might have been the (unconscious?) rationale behind setting Christmas at the beginning of the winter. At Christmas the promise is made: at Easter it is fulfilled.

[tazira.livejournal.com]

Yep. I've always suspected Christmas was right where people really needed it to be, smack in the darkest, coldest part of winter. And, God knows, the only thing I've ever honestly looked forward to at that time.

I've posited that Jesus himself was probably born in July; the Roman Census took place in July, and Mary and Joseph were presumably traveling to Bethlehem to answer the Census. But July is filled with warmth and sunlight, and it's frankly not when we need the cheerful reminder of good things.