Preserving the Holy in Holidays

T.M. Moore @ http://www.breakpoint.org discusses the Holy in the Holidays. He covers:

A GRESHAM’S LAW OF HOLIDAYS

Gresham’s Law of holidays began to set in: the more holidays were multiplied, the more the peculiar affections attached to any of them began to be watered down and reduced.

In Checkov’s “Rothschild’s Fiddle” :

the coffin-maker, Jacob Ivanov, hated holidays because they meant he lost money, since he was unable to work. These days many people maintain a love/hate relationship with holidays: we love them, but not all of them, because of whatever we find special about them, but we hate them for the inconvenience they cause—days when we can’t work or don’t get mail because of some holiday we don’t even acknowledge, or when we have to observe traditions or visit with people we’d just as soon ignore.

HOLY DAYS

The holy days God included in His Law played a special role in this. The great feasts of Israel were instituted for at least three purposes: (1) To reinforce the nation’s sense of the grace and greatness of God; (2) To renew their identity as one people, a covenant community of grace; and (3) To strengthen their souls—heart, mind, and conscience—for service to God and neighbor in everyday life.

Each of the holy days of Israel had a particular focus in reminding the nation of their debt to God: Passover—deliverance, redemption; Harvest—God’s gracious provision and promise; Ingathering—His abundant goodness.

THE DECLINE AND RECOVERY OF THE SACRED