kb said . . .

random responses: *annals :) Yet another of evangelicalism's dubious gifts: failure to properly value the past. The Amish community in Nickel Mines, Pa., reputedly told people who asked why they could forgive that they had been steeped in the stories of the Martyr's Mirror all their lives; it was simply natural to accept suffering with grace. You make a worthwhile observations about tradition and hugely inappropriate commercialized co-opting of a profound narrative, but I don't think we need to tear down special days that invite us to pay more attention to things we should do anyway. I've heard a lot of backlash against the Christian year couched in that argument and it's annoying. Routine is good and necessary...and so are things or events that break that routine by causing us to be more intentional about doing something good we should do regardless. Just my scatter-shot observations. :)

2015-02-15 at 05:50:41

ericjordan said . . .

Ha! Mistakes like that serve me right for writing my draft in my iPhone. I agree with your sentiment - that we sometimes need a break from routine to be reminded of things we should do but don't necessarily do. However, a part of me reacts against using such days - such as St Valentine's martyr day - to do so. It somehow seems to me a disrespect and perhaps even missing the point of what the saint was attempting to accomplish. Maybe we should pick a different day to do acts of love. This is a much smaller scale of my issue with what Christmas has become - the original weigh being swept aside and underneath all kinds of other adornments. But maybe I'm taking things too far with too little valid reasonings.

2015-02-17 at 21:44:54