Reclaiming the Christian Calendar
The Christian calendar is one that has at its core a re-telling of the Jesus story year after year. The Christian calendar begins with the first day of Advent, which is always the forth Sunday before Christmas day. Originally Advent was a time of awaiting the coming of Christ at Christmas; this waiting held a somber tone with fasting and prayers.
In our household, it is more of a joyful awaiting. Every morning during Advent, we do three additional things with our children: they get to open a new book (not actually ‘new,’ but books in storage except during this time of year and books from the library), take a felt figurine out of their advent calendar and place it in the nativity scene, and take a number off of our string of numbers, each of which has a special activity that they get to do that day written on the back. Some of the activities are just fun things like getting to have hot chocolate with marshmallows or build a gingerbread house, but some are focused on peace and on giving to others – like making MCC relief kits for refuges (towels, shampoo, toothbrushes, etc.), or choosing which animal to buy for a family in the developing world, or taking cookies to our neighbours. On the Sundays in Advent, we “light” an LED candle that is part of a candle display on our table, and we say a little script (liturgy) about what that candle represents, whether it be joy, peace, hope or love. We also try to do something a bit bigger on the Sundays in Advent to celebrate.
Every evening of Advent, we read a poem or song from a collection we have that is illustrated my Mary Engelbreit; the illustrations capture the attention of our young children as we read from the book. We also have the Advent Storybook that follows the travels of a little bear who is trying to get to Bethlehem to worship baby Jesus; every day there is a little lesson about what one might encounter upon the road of life as we draw closer to Jesus. Lastly, our children have a play nativity set; it is a wonderful way for them to get to act out the story with the little figurines. It makes it more real for them.
After Advent is the 12 days of Christmas then the season of Epiphany, which goes until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday launches the 40 days of Lent, concluding with Holy Week. Lent is typically the season of giving up on earthly pleasures in order to more fully come to know and enjoy heavenly pleasures. Some traditions give up eating meat (except on Sundays) during this season, other people choose to give up things like chocolate or social media. A few years back I gave up watching shows, and instead I would read or listen to audio books; it was a wonderful experience of being untethered from something that had subtly wrapped itself around me. There are not as many resources out there for how to do Lent with children as there are for Advent. One of the things we have done is to cover a portrait of Jesus with 40 little numbered squares, each with a passage from the Gospel of Luke referenced on the back. So every morning we would take that day’s square down and read the passage from Luke, and so every day more of Jesus was revealed in the portrait as well as from Luke’s account of Jesus. This was also a good way to actually introduce the real Bible (as opposed to Children’s Bibles) to our young children and get them used to hearing from it.
The Christian calendar is one that has at its core a re-telling of the Jesus story year after year. The Christian calendar begins with the first day of Advent, which is always the forth Sunday before Christmas day. Originally Advent was a time of awaiting the coming of Christ at Christmas; this waiting held a somber tone with fasting and prayers.
In our household, it is more of a joyful awaiting. Every morning during Advent, we do three additional things with our children: they get to open a new book (not actually ‘new,’ but books in storage except during this time of year and books from the library), take a felt figurine out of their advent calendar and place it in the nativity scene, and take a number off of our string of numbers, each of which has a special activity that they get to do that day written on the back. Some of the activities are just fun things like getting to have hot chocolate with marshmallows or build a gingerbread house, but some are focused on peace and on giving to others – like making MCC relief kits for refuges (towels, shampoo, toothbrushes, etc.), or choosing which animal to buy for a family in the developing world, or taking cookies to our neighbours. On the Sundays in Advent, we “light” an LED candle that is part of a candle display on our table, and we say a little script (liturgy) about what that candle represents, whether it be joy, peace, hope or love. We also try to do something a bit bigger on the Sundays in Advent to celebrate.
Every evening of Advent, we read a poem or song from a collection we have that is illustrated my Mary Engelbreit; the illustrations capture the attention of our young children as we read from the book. We also have the Advent Storybook that follows the travels of a little bear who is trying to get to Bethlehem to worship baby Jesus; every day there is a little lesson about what one might encounter upon the road of life as we draw closer to Jesus. Lastly, our children have a play nativity set; it is a wonderful way for them to get to act out the story with the little figurines. It makes it more real for them.
After Advent is the 12 days of Christmas then the season of Epiphany, which goes until the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday launches the 40 days of Lent, concluding with Holy Week. Lent is typically the season of giving up on earthly pleasures in order to more fully come to know and enjoy heavenly pleasures. Some traditions give up eating meat (except on Sundays) during this season, other people choose to give up things like chocolate or social media. A few years back I gave up watching shows, and instead I would read or listen to audio books; it was a wonderful experience of being untethered from something that had subtly wrapped itself around me. There are not as many resources out there for how to do Lent with children as there are for Advent. One of the things we have done is to cover a portrait of Jesus with 40 little numbered squares, each with a passage from the Gospel of Luke referenced on the back. So every morning we would take that day’s square down and read the passage from Luke, and so every day more of Jesus was revealed in the portrait as well as from Luke’s account of Jesus. This was also a good way to actually introduce the real Bible (as opposed to Children’s Bibles) to our young children and get them used to hearing from it.
After Lent and Holy Week, is what I like to call Resurrection Day! In our family, Resurrection Day is like a second Christmas with the children getting presents. One of the things I have tried to do during this season of Lent/Holy Week/Resurrection Day, is getting a caterpillar to keep in our house that would turn into a butterfly, but I haven’t been able to procure one yet; I think this could be a beautiful metaphor from nature of transformation – both of Jesus’ resurrection and our future resurrection, but also how through discipleship we are being transformed into a new creation. Later, one of the things I hope to be able to do when my children are older is go on a pilgrimage on Holy Saturday, where we would stop and read an account from a Gospel of Jesus’ last days or some sort of adapted version of the stations of the cross. We live near the monastery in Mission, BC and using that as the destination of our pilgrimage would seem fitting.
Resurrection Day ushers in the 50 days until Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’s first followers. This season is followed by what is often called Ordinary Time or the Season After Pentecost. This season continues until the first Sunday of Advent, which is the mark of the new-year in the Christian calendar. One of the most simple ways I have found of remembering the Christian calendar is through a physical calendar called “Salt of the Earth,” put together every year by the University Hill Congregation in Vancouver; the calendar features beautiful artwork that corresponds to the different seasons, as well as descriptions of the season, other important dates within each season, scripture readings, and that season’s featured colours.
These practices help us to remember Jesus’s story as we go about our years - for His story to inform and form our story. We also hope that reaching for these “higher times” will in fact help us to create skylights for our children that will open them up to the God who is among us.
Reclaiming Sabbath
Besides reclaiming the larger picture of how we might order our years through the Christian calendar, we should be reclaiming the idea of Sabbath – a 24-hour period each week in which we cease from work/toil and instead choose celebration and delight. The reason most Christian churches worship on Sunday mornings is because Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday morning, and each Sunday is supposed to be a celebration of the resurrection – a time to celebrate the new creation we see blooming as we follow Jesus and remember our future resurrection – the day when all will be completely redeemed and made whole again.
I find it interesting that in the Ten Commandments, which are our original basis for Sabbath, the reason for Sabbath-keeping is different in the two versions. In the Exodus version of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20), the reason for keeping the Sabbath is connected to the creation account in Genesis 1-2, and God’s own resting after the labour of creation. In the restatement of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy (Deut. 5), Sabbath is connected with the Israelites’ former slavery in Egypt and God mightily redeeming them from their captors. None of the other commandments differ like this between the two accounts, and yet, both reasons for Sabbath-keeping are helpful. The first reminds us that we are God’s image bearers in this world and encourages us to rest like our God rested, and the second version of the commandment reminds us that we are not slaves and of God’s work to redeem us to a free and fuller life.
In a world that wants to capture and constrain us again, that views us as primarily consumers or workers, the need to stop and remember that we are more than that is essential. We are created in the image of God to be in relationship with him and others and all of creation. This weekly rhythm of rest opens us up to remember our place in God’s world and story – one where we can be free from the slavery of our age – to consume, to be busy, to do – and to rest in the freedom that God offers through Christ Jesus. To remember that God is ultimately in control and we need not fear or be anxious for if he cares for the birds and the flowers how much more will he care for us.
Many of you may be thinking that Jesus spoke against the Sabbath, but I would argue that what he is speaking against is the legalism that the religious leaders had built around Sabbath-keeping in his day - laws and rules that actually kept them from experiencing God or being God’s image bearers to their neighbours. Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. So let us use Sabbath as a time to reconnect with Him, to remember that we are not slaves and instead to intentionally choose delight and beauty, and to image Him on those days. Maybe we stop shopping on a Sunday because that makes people work and the people who often have to work on Sunday are those of lower socio-economic status – those with the least options for work. Or if we go to a restaurant, choosing to generously tip the wait staff as a way to bless them for their service to us.
For our family, Sundays are special. Every Sunday we begin the day with eating cinnamon rolls, eggs and bacon prepared by my wonderful husband. We don’t have to hurry to get out the door, so we play and do puzzles together. For lunch, I usually start a loaf of bread in the bread-maker before we go to church, and it’s ready for when we get home and we have a light meal of deli meat, cheese, and olives, which is easy to invite friends to last minute after church. In the afternoons, we watch a movie all together and have popcorn, and then a simple dinner. I am trying not to do laundry on Sundays too! Or course this doesn’t always work out, but it does enough that our kids have come to expect our Sundays to be shaped like this.
I know for many people, it is not possible to really take Sundays off, and I think it is okay to find a 24 hour period that works for you – time when you aren’t running around trying to do errands or have lots of commitments. A time to remember that you are created in the image of God and that you are not a slave. A time to delight in the good gifts that God has given.
Reclaiming Daily Prayers
So we have explored rhythms of grace for our year and for our week, and now we will look at the need for daily prayers. In recent years there has been a movement within Christianity called “New Monasticism.” This movement among other things has sought to reclaim ancient monastic practices, especially that of prayer. Current monasteries take time to pray 5+ times a day – using the Psalms as a basis for their prayers; they therefore pray through the book of Psalms every month.
For most of us, it is not feasible to set aside 5 times a day for focused prayer, but what would it look like to begin and end our days in prayer, scripture and reflection? There are tools that can be used. The one I am most familiar with is that of the Common Book of Prayer for the Ordinary Radical. This book has a different morning liturgy (set of prayers, songs, scripture readings, and reflections) for every day of the year as well as a set nightly liturgy of prayers. There are other similar books of prayer like the Anglican Book of Common Prayer or the Celtic Book of Prayer.
For me in my current life stage of caring for very small children, I tried the Common Book of Prayer for the Ordinary Radical and found that it was too much. Instead, I have begun doing a “Write the Word Journal;” it is a journal with a place to write what day it is, what I am grateful for, then a few verses of scripture that is meant to be written out in the journal, a place for prayers, and for a word of the day. This simple practice of daily doing this journal, which takes less than 10 minutes, has become a breath of fresh air as I go about my day. I usually do it once I am home from dropping off one of the kids at preschool and the baby is sleeping. I try to do it before I start doing all the other things – the laundry, the lunches, the cleaning. If I don’t do it first then it doesn’t tend to happen, and I definitely notice the days and weeks when I have taken the time to do it and the times when I haven’t.
It serves as a daily way that I can connect with God – to remember my place in the bigger story that He is writing – my part in His symphony. It also gives me a space to cast my cares upon the God who cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). To be able to write my prayers to God in a limited way has been incredibly life giving; the space to write out prayers is only the back of the page of a small journal, and this has helped me to be concise and direct and frees me from the worry of taking too much time to “journal.” And yet, the act of actually writing out my prayers makes them more real somehow like I have really handed this burden to God and now it is in His hands and not in mine. This simple practice has become my daily bread; the spiritual food I need to help me through the day.
With the children, we have also established daily rhythms. We begin by reading, The Daily Devotional for Children. The kids love the illustrations in it, and I love the way it asks questions, has a verse, and a simple rhyming prayer – all that tie together and get us thinking about what it might mean for us to live out our faith in the world. Even though it’s for preschoolers, I often find I am encouraged or convicted by it. We sing prayers before dinner together, and we also read a Bible story from one of the many children’s Bibles we own at the end of story time, just before bed. For babies, I really like the Little Lamb Bible or Little Lion Bible that Zondervan does. It has only about 10 Bible stories all told in about 8 lines of rhyming verse with an illustration on the opposite side. For toddlers, we have really enjoyed The Big Picture Bible. It uses the lens of God’s true kingship to tell the stories of the Bible, and it primarily follows the Gospel of John when it looks at the life of Jesus, which is different than many children’s Bibles. Once in their bedrooms, we pray over them and then we sing the doxology. One of the sweetest things is hearing my 3-year old son singing, “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow…” We have intentionally chosen that song because it points us beyond the immanent frame, locates us as among his creation, and is Trinitarian.
There is a necessary repetition to our years, weeks, and days. In a world that is always pursuing what’s new, these acts of repetition might feel boring. In response to this criticism, I offer up some of Soren Kierkegaard’s ideas summarized by Stephen Backhouse:
The idea of ‘repetition’ is crucial for personhood. Without repeated events, there can be no persistent reality, no
continuity of a self. Without repetition, life would be one fleeting and unconnected experience after another.
Repetition happens when a self commits, and recommits, its new self with the ideals and choices of the past self.
By repeatedly choosing oneself, a person unites their past and future selves in the present. Without repetition
there can be no meaning—‘all life dissolves into an empty, meaningless noise.’[1]
So instead of being monotonous, acts of repetition and recommitments lead us to be more fully alive and present.
So in light of the secular age in which we find ourselves, which wants to box out the transcendent through the flattening of time, buffered self, and immanent frame. Let us intentionally choose to tune our hearts, souls, and minds to the rhythms of grace that truly are all around us through intentionally reclaiming the practices of the Christian calendar, Sabbath, and daily prayers. In conclusion, let me end with another Rain for Roots song, one called “Open Our Eyes.”
Resurrection Day ushers in the 50 days until Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus’s first followers. This season is followed by what is often called Ordinary Time or the Season After Pentecost. This season continues until the first Sunday of Advent, which is the mark of the new-year in the Christian calendar. One of the most simple ways I have found of remembering the Christian calendar is through a physical calendar called “Salt of the Earth,” put together every year by the University Hill Congregation in Vancouver; the calendar features beautiful artwork that corresponds to the different seasons, as well as descriptions of the season, other important dates within each season, scripture readings, and that season’s featured colours.
These practices help us to remember Jesus’s story as we go about our years - for His story to inform and form our story. We also hope that reaching for these “higher times” will in fact help us to create skylights for our children that will open them up to the God who is among us.
Reclaiming Sabbath
Besides reclaiming the larger picture of how we might order our years through the Christian calendar, we should be reclaiming the idea of Sabbath – a 24-hour period each week in which we cease from work/toil and instead choose celebration and delight. The reason most Christian churches worship on Sunday mornings is because Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday morning, and each Sunday is supposed to be a celebration of the resurrection – a time to celebrate the new creation we see blooming as we follow Jesus and remember our future resurrection – the day when all will be completely redeemed and made whole again.
I find it interesting that in the Ten Commandments, which are our original basis for Sabbath, the reason for Sabbath-keeping is different in the two versions. In the Exodus version of the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20), the reason for keeping the Sabbath is connected to the creation account in Genesis 1-2, and God’s own resting after the labour of creation. In the restatement of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy (Deut. 5), Sabbath is connected with the Israelites’ former slavery in Egypt and God mightily redeeming them from their captors. None of the other commandments differ like this between the two accounts, and yet, both reasons for Sabbath-keeping are helpful. The first reminds us that we are God’s image bearers in this world and encourages us to rest like our God rested, and the second version of the commandment reminds us that we are not slaves and of God’s work to redeem us to a free and fuller life.
In a world that wants to capture and constrain us again, that views us as primarily consumers or workers, the need to stop and remember that we are more than that is essential. We are created in the image of God to be in relationship with him and others and all of creation. This weekly rhythm of rest opens us up to remember our place in God’s world and story – one where we can be free from the slavery of our age – to consume, to be busy, to do – and to rest in the freedom that God offers through Christ Jesus. To remember that God is ultimately in control and we need not fear or be anxious for if he cares for the birds and the flowers how much more will he care for us.
Many of you may be thinking that Jesus spoke against the Sabbath, but I would argue that what he is speaking against is the legalism that the religious leaders had built around Sabbath-keeping in his day - laws and rules that actually kept them from experiencing God or being God’s image bearers to their neighbours. Jesus claims to be Lord of the Sabbath. So let us use Sabbath as a time to reconnect with Him, to remember that we are not slaves and instead to intentionally choose delight and beauty, and to image Him on those days. Maybe we stop shopping on a Sunday because that makes people work and the people who often have to work on Sunday are those of lower socio-economic status – those with the least options for work. Or if we go to a restaurant, choosing to generously tip the wait staff as a way to bless them for their service to us.
For our family, Sundays are special. Every Sunday we begin the day with eating cinnamon rolls, eggs and bacon prepared by my wonderful husband. We don’t have to hurry to get out the door, so we play and do puzzles together. For lunch, I usually start a loaf of bread in the bread-maker before we go to church, and it’s ready for when we get home and we have a light meal of deli meat, cheese, and olives, which is easy to invite friends to last minute after church. In the afternoons, we watch a movie all together and have popcorn, and then a simple dinner. I am trying not to do laundry on Sundays too! Or course this doesn’t always work out, but it does enough that our kids have come to expect our Sundays to be shaped like this.
I know for many people, it is not possible to really take Sundays off, and I think it is okay to find a 24 hour period that works for you – time when you aren’t running around trying to do errands or have lots of commitments. A time to remember that you are created in the image of God and that you are not a slave. A time to delight in the good gifts that God has given.
Reclaiming Daily Prayers
So we have explored rhythms of grace for our year and for our week, and now we will look at the need for daily prayers. In recent years there has been a movement within Christianity called “New Monasticism.” This movement among other things has sought to reclaim ancient monastic practices, especially that of prayer. Current monasteries take time to pray 5+ times a day – using the Psalms as a basis for their prayers; they therefore pray through the book of Psalms every month.
For most of us, it is not feasible to set aside 5 times a day for focused prayer, but what would it look like to begin and end our days in prayer, scripture and reflection? There are tools that can be used. The one I am most familiar with is that of the Common Book of Prayer for the Ordinary Radical. This book has a different morning liturgy (set of prayers, songs, scripture readings, and reflections) for every day of the year as well as a set nightly liturgy of prayers. There are other similar books of prayer like the Anglican Book of Common Prayer or the Celtic Book of Prayer.
For me in my current life stage of caring for very small children, I tried the Common Book of Prayer for the Ordinary Radical and found that it was too much. Instead, I have begun doing a “Write the Word Journal;” it is a journal with a place to write what day it is, what I am grateful for, then a few verses of scripture that is meant to be written out in the journal, a place for prayers, and for a word of the day. This simple practice of daily doing this journal, which takes less than 10 minutes, has become a breath of fresh air as I go about my day. I usually do it once I am home from dropping off one of the kids at preschool and the baby is sleeping. I try to do it before I start doing all the other things – the laundry, the lunches, the cleaning. If I don’t do it first then it doesn’t tend to happen, and I definitely notice the days and weeks when I have taken the time to do it and the times when I haven’t.
It serves as a daily way that I can connect with God – to remember my place in the bigger story that He is writing – my part in His symphony. It also gives me a space to cast my cares upon the God who cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). To be able to write my prayers to God in a limited way has been incredibly life giving; the space to write out prayers is only the back of the page of a small journal, and this has helped me to be concise and direct and frees me from the worry of taking too much time to “journal.” And yet, the act of actually writing out my prayers makes them more real somehow like I have really handed this burden to God and now it is in His hands and not in mine. This simple practice has become my daily bread; the spiritual food I need to help me through the day.
With the children, we have also established daily rhythms. We begin by reading, The Daily Devotional for Children. The kids love the illustrations in it, and I love the way it asks questions, has a verse, and a simple rhyming prayer – all that tie together and get us thinking about what it might mean for us to live out our faith in the world. Even though it’s for preschoolers, I often find I am encouraged or convicted by it. We sing prayers before dinner together, and we also read a Bible story from one of the many children’s Bibles we own at the end of story time, just before bed. For babies, I really like the Little Lamb Bible or Little Lion Bible that Zondervan does. It has only about 10 Bible stories all told in about 8 lines of rhyming verse with an illustration on the opposite side. For toddlers, we have really enjoyed The Big Picture Bible. It uses the lens of God’s true kingship to tell the stories of the Bible, and it primarily follows the Gospel of John when it looks at the life of Jesus, which is different than many children’s Bibles. Once in their bedrooms, we pray over them and then we sing the doxology. One of the sweetest things is hearing my 3-year old son singing, “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow…” We have intentionally chosen that song because it points us beyond the immanent frame, locates us as among his creation, and is Trinitarian.
There is a necessary repetition to our years, weeks, and days. In a world that is always pursuing what’s new, these acts of repetition might feel boring. In response to this criticism, I offer up some of Soren Kierkegaard’s ideas summarized by Stephen Backhouse:
The idea of ‘repetition’ is crucial for personhood. Without repeated events, there can be no persistent reality, no
continuity of a self. Without repetition, life would be one fleeting and unconnected experience after another.
Repetition happens when a self commits, and recommits, its new self with the ideals and choices of the past self.
By repeatedly choosing oneself, a person unites their past and future selves in the present. Without repetition
there can be no meaning—‘all life dissolves into an empty, meaningless noise.’[1]
So instead of being monotonous, acts of repetition and recommitments lead us to be more fully alive and present.
So in light of the secular age in which we find ourselves, which wants to box out the transcendent through the flattening of time, buffered self, and immanent frame. Let us intentionally choose to tune our hearts, souls, and minds to the rhythms of grace that truly are all around us through intentionally reclaiming the practices of the Christian calendar, Sabbath, and daily prayers. In conclusion, let me end with another Rain for Roots song, one called “Open Our Eyes.”
Open up our ears to listen
Open up our eyes to see
Plant the seed of understanding
Grow it up like the tallest tree
Open up our ears to listen
Open up our eyes to see
Plant the seed of understanding
Grow it up like the tallest tree
Pull the blinds
Open wide all the windows
Fill our hearts with the light of your truth
