We are reading and discussing Diana Butler Bass’ new book A Beautiful Year: 52 Meditations on Faith, Wisdom, and Perseverance in our Tuesday morning Bible Study right now. I appreciated her explanation of the liturgical year: “The Christian year is a cycle of stories and rituals based on the life and teachings of Jesus. It begins in late November or early December with a season called Advent. Unlike the civil calendar with four seasons, it has six—Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. The first five seasons happen in quick succession during the first half of the year and relate the story of Jesus; the sixth season occupies the second half of the calendar year and emphasizes what Jesus taught. And so it goes on—year after year—moving from seasons to remember Jesus to the time to learn and practice his teachings.” (pg. 5)

Sometimes rituals can become rote.
We can feel like we are just going through the motions and it’s all rather mechanical.
Though humans truly are meaning-making creatures!

What I find helpful about observing the liturgical year is that it provides a sense of structure to the unfolding of our lives. We move from winter to spring to summer to fall when it comes to the earthly seasons we can experience and enjoy here in New England. In the church, we move from Advent to Christmas to Epiphany to Lent to Easter to Pentecost. These seasons in the life of our church are not the same. We hear different stories and we observe different rituals. Once we finish the Sundays of Pentecost, we move back into Advent and so it begins all over again.

As Advent has begun, I have been thinking about how we observe this sacred time. We observe it through the sacred stories we hear and the people we encounter in those stories—Isaiah, John the Baptist, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (of course). We sing Advent hymns that anticipate the coming of the Christ Child. We light candles each week adding more light into our world. We take to heart the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love in a world where it is easy to give into cynicism and despair. The seasons we observe in the church can help ground us in our lives, and that is a gift.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash

Thursday Thoughts 12/4/25