Spreading Love & Fricking Joy

Today I’m thankful for occasional chances to live slowly.

Today is Ash Wednesday.  I’m ambivalent toward formal religion and lean agnostic.  Even so, I sing in the choir of a local Anglican church.  Singing is like breathing to me.  I need both to live.  I attend most Sundays because we sing at set points through the entire service.  I don’t believe in the metaphysical aspects but I still find beauty in the rituals, and consider “seeking justice and loving mercy” a worthy idea.

I honestly love the liturgical calendar.  I’m struck by the idea that every day is a feast honoring someone.  Every day becomes a celebration.  Dividing the year into various “-tides” that reflect the cycle of seasons feels far less artificial to me than worrying about quarterly goals.  I don’t suffer from misguided nostalgia in thinking the past was “purer” because survival required so much more effort.  I do wonder whether we’ve compartmentalized and subdivided our lives so much as to be pointless.

I don’t sacrifice anything for Lent.  That would mean abiding by proscriptions I just don’t believe.  I do try to use the season to live an examined life.  I don’t have any grand final insights.  I write what I see.  I probably won’t be an objectively better person by Easter but I will be reminded that what I do has consequences for good or ill.  I don’t think knowing that is ever a bad thing.