Fulfilled!

::shuffles out sheepishly and waves::
Hi.

Guess i have neglected writing yet again. It's no surprise. I would be even longer had i chose to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. We are now nine days into the month and i haven't written anything yet, so maybe next year. That is my life motto: maybe next ____(fill in the blank).

However, i am embarking on a new project that i hope to stick with through it's completion. Fortunately, due to it's nature, i have an entire year to finish it. The past couple years i have been trying to figure out holidays and why we celebrate them. It's no doubt that it's mainly attributed to culture and tradition. I grew up loving Christmas decorations and as i got older, i was the only to put up the lights and any yard display. We all would participate in decorating the tree. Well, actually, it would depend on how my mom was feeling that year. Kids don't produce very high quality trees, do they? Throwing handfuls of tinsel on and bunching ornaments together. One year she told us we could only put on our "silly" (handmade and my Little Mermaid ones i punched out of a magazine or something) ornaments in the back. Another year, if i remember correctly, we had two trees. One traditional pine with all (and i mean ALL) the trimmings, and then a small silver one with all new ornaments that played music. But i digress. We didn't celebrate Halloween when i was a kid, but instead went to harvest festivals. Puh-leez, who there is really celebrating God's gift of vegetation or what? It's just a Halloween fair in a church parking lot, but it satisfies people. Is satisfaction enough? Then there's Easter eggs and stuff. I loved decorating eggs and celebrated Jesus' resurrection, not any fertility goddess. My parents never had us believe in Santa or the Easter bunny.

1. I don't have it figured out fully about Christmas, but to just evaluate carefully any activity or symbol i endorse. I decided to stop being sore (for the most part) about stores that start putting up their holiday stock in October. Also about people that leave their lights up all year long. Who says it has anything to do with Christmas? They should even turn them on, because it looks nice. We have some deer on our balcony that my mom didn't want any more. I wanted something for our balcony because it looks to empty otherwise. Until i find a lifesize Iron Man, this will suffice. Also, i try to call Christmas "Arrival of the Messiah" but am passively looking for a shorter name.  I feel that by calling it a different name, we are bringing emphasis to the fact that we still know the reason for the season.  I mean, Christ Mass?  We need something more fitting.
   
2. Like how we call Easter Ressurection Sunday.  I haven't decorated eggs in a while only but i haven't had the opportunity either, so i haven't evaluated that.  A few years ago i went to a sunrise service, and i do want to do that every year.  Stuff just keeps happening.  Maybe now being married it will be easier (two people trying to wake up on time).  The one thing i have thought about for Easter is how sad that even in churches (as i don't expect secular society to recognize this) is how overlooked Good Friday is and how Easter seems to get second billing to Christmas.  Anyone can be born, but only Christ died for our sins and rose again.  These holidays need a lot more attention in the Protestant realm.
3. I celebrate Reformation day just as one would celebrate Halloween.  Why?  The Roman Catholic church dressed up their lies as truth.  We wear costumes and does anyone really believe we are who we are masquerading as?  This shows the foolishness of the church pre-Reformation on the day before the Catholic All Saints' Day.  Then you may ask what's with all the decorations?  It's just my personality...i like the color black and skulls and a lot of that stuff all year round; as i do wearing costumes.  With this holiday, i don't care to convice others because it's not in the Bible.  Neither is Christmas and Easter, but the concepts behind them are, so i will try to convince, but if someone wants to take a Puritan stance, then that's fine as long as they have good reasoning.  I almost became a Christian scrooge, which didn't seem right, so i went through multiple reevalutions with the holiday formerly know as Christmas.
4. I can't stand Valentine's Day but my husband likes it.  Looks like i'll be needing to figure this one out in the next few months.

So my new project?  To assess Jewish holidays and see if i can commandeer them as the Catholic church commandeered Pagan holidays.  Why?  Christianity is Judaism, fulfilled, right?  I want the holidays to be fulfilled as well.  "But Becky, fulfillment means we don't have to observe these Holy Days anymore."  We don't HAVE to, but i want to, as an American whose culture is so party-centered.  I'm only posting this in case anyone wants to join in, but not trying to push it as a new requirement!  We have so many holidays in this country.  If we have two holidays to remember the veterans, then i want even more to remember what God has done for us.  "But Becky, you should be doing that all year long."  So why not specific days to help you in case you slipped or a day to refresh you if you were getting dry?  We have church every week because it's so easy to slip in just a week. So i thought, why not add more days and reasons to celebrate? I just can't stand inconsitancy, so any reason i can think of against this would throw out any other holiday as well. Plus, just as the holidays with pagan roots retained the practices, i intend to retain the feasts. I'm not really a "live to eat" person, but i do love food, especially right now since i'm hungry.

So now i'm going to grab some leftover pizza and head off to church. Stay tuned for the first installment - Hannukah: Fulfilled!