I have a little ritual that's related to certain days in the year, sort of my own "festival calendar." I got the idea from the Old Testament actually. Israel had a cycle of feasts that regularly punctuated their otherwise ordinary existence. They were called to their highest ideals and to refocus on the God that redeemed them. Readings accompanied each of these gatherings. The Shema (see "Knowing God" here) at certain gatherings, a recitation of other portions of sacred Scripture at others. The Passover Seder still asks questions that recall their history: "Why is this night different from all others?" If you've never attended a Passover celebration led by someone who can explain why these elements are so significant to believers, you really should. A friend from Bible college days presents these regularly. Seeing one opened up my eyes to the Lord's Supper.

I'm not Jewish - but I do have rituals that are linked to certain days. All of them have some connection to my understanding of Scripture. I celebrated one of them this Monday by re-reading Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's. "I Have a Dream" speech. Even at the remove of forty plus years it still has the power to move me. It was a great preparation to watch the historic events (read "Dictators Take Heed"  here) of Inauguration Day.

We live right across from the Vienna Metro so our forays from home on Tuesday necessarily encountered HUGE amounts of traffic to get out of our neighborhood. The inconvenience was a small price to pay for the sight of America making a major step toward moving beyond the national sin of racism. If you don't think racism is a sin I urge you to read the condemnation by Amos of the nations surrounding Israel. Strong stuff from God's perspective on what He thinks of racism. He does not take lightly the sin of demeaning of human life.  Oh, and BTW, He will not put up with it forever - which is hopefully an encouragement to some of the marchers who are on the Mall today.

Today is the annual Pro-Life rally on the National Mall. Later today I will read Day Gardner's reminder that there is a strong connection between abortion and racism. I will pray that our President repent of his support for "reproductive rights".

There are other days - many of which are filled with joy. I've already written about the Christmas tradition of reading Luke 2. It was a treat to have my dad read it this year. We've come a long way - we replaced our traditional "birthday cake for Jesus" with cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake. It's the best upgrade I've made since moving to a new computer to replace my TI 99/4A.

On Opening Day this year I will read one of the best baseball essays ever written - "Why Time Begins on Opening Day" by Thomas Boswell. (He also wrote "How Life Imitates the World Series", a very worthwhile read.)  This year I'll read it from the copy of the book that our daughter gave me for Christmas!

Around Thanksgiving I'll read with renewed interest Governor Bradford's Thanksgiving proclamation. I say "renewed" because I discovered this year that Gov. Bradford is one of my direct ancestors.

That's a glimpse at my "festival calendar".