Tag: Church year

Andrew Schmemann wisely suggests the opposite of sacrifice is ‘consumerism” – the belief that we own what we have and have control over it and need to own more and more. An ethic of sacrifice recognizes that growth toward God always requires a letting go and a receiving, a mutuality that is part of the divine nature, part of what we share in because we were made in the image of God.

Pew sitting can engender feelings of familiarity, anonymity, and detachment. Conversely, participating in an exuberant procession can feel awkward, encourage physical and emotional interaction with others, and demand engagement. In other words, exuberant processions clash with the self-concept of many Episcopalians as God’s frozen chosen.

During Lent, which was — as I understood it — all about giving up things, the sweet, iced buns would inexplicably appear on our Formica kitchen table instead. A treat — and yet, not entirely. No matter how recently they had arrived from the bakery, they always tasted stale. They were called “hot cross buns” but they were never (in those pre-microwave days) remotely warm. That, I reasoned, was why they were okay to eat during a season of gloom.