More than one day
I’ve been on a little bit of an N.T. Wright kick lately. Wright is the bishop of Durham for the Church of England and a scholar and author. I was rereading sections of his book “Surprised by Hope” and was struck by this interesting section:
“I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday…and then, after a rather odd Saturday, we have a single day of celebration.”—N.T. Wright in “Surprised by Hope”
It’s true. We spend a lot of time repenting and reflecting during Lent, but, even though the Easter season is longer than the Lenten season, in practice, most of us go all out on that one day and then go on with the rest of our lives.
Sunday: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
Monday: Now, where was I?
Maybe we as proper Christians would feel a little guilty about laughing, rejoicing, celebrating for the whole Easter season (which this year lasts until May 31, when we then do some more celebrating of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world--Pentecost).
Nonsense. If there’s any time of the year when we do something joyful and out of the ordinary “just because” it’s this time of the year.
Thursday, April 16, 2009