The Rev. Rick Lawson hates the sight of discarded Christmas trees in the gutter as he drives home from church on Christmas Day. He winces at the day-after rush to the stores.
“Nothing is more shocking to me,” says Lawson, dean of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Salt Lake City. “So many people see it as the end of the festivities, but in the church it is just the beginning of a celebratory season.”
For many branches of Christianity, that season culminates on Jan. 6, which is known variously as Epiphany, or Twelfth Night. Taken from the Greek for “manifestation,” Epiphany began in the Eastern Orthodox Church in the third century to honor Jesus’ baptism. In that tradition, the Epiphany service includes a blessing of water as a symbol of renewal and regeneration. Individual members can take some of the blessed water to their homes to drink and to use for healing.
[i] “Nothing is more shocking to me,” says Lawson, dean of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Salt Lake City [/i]
Think of the world we live in. Think of ECUSA. And then think of Lawson superlatively shocked by . . . the timing of Christmas celebration.
Today was the deadline for participating in the city’s “Christmas Tree Recycling Program”. One letter to the editor stated:
Why doesn’t the city allow us to keep our Christmas tree up until Christmas is over?
Happy 10th Day of Christmas!
Here in Tucson, many folk still have their Christmas lights up. I was at church tonight at Ascension Lutheran (LCMS) and the liturgy was still all Christmas.
“Some faiths, such as the Episcopal Church,” is very telling. Perhaps not in the manner intended by the author of the piece.