Lenten Choice: High and Long - Part 1

All of the seasons of the church have largely two sources of input in how they are shaped and expressed. There are those things that have come primarily from the story of the 1st century life, death and resurrection of one Jesus of Nazareth, son of a man named Joseph and a mother named Mary. To get to and from that core story we rely on older and newer uses of history and tradition that have been practiced before and after the story of Jesus was being lived by its characters.

The newer components emerge in the history and traditions of every other human who has so chosen to respond to that story and its history. Because there are humans, who live and die, involved with the refinement and sharing of that history and story the accompanying tradition has diversified and drifted apart.  Now it's traditions.  The western parlance is denominations.

Our traditions have produced a liturgy of liturgies.  In order to best tell the story as gospel for others and ourselves over time we have developed a liturgy of each year and with seasons made sure to repeat all the sources of the story.

Easter season is that time of the liturgical year when we are consumed by the best part of the story.  "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" begins and ends our worship on every Sunday in that season and we nearly bathe in the parts of the story that remember that marvel and mystery of Jesus being raised from the dead. The traditions that accompany the telling of that part of the story include how the church is dressed, our posture in worship, the words of our worship and on and on.

Every season gets to take its turn with its own dressing, postures and words that help expose their parts of the story we need to rehearse so that we are best prepared for Easter.  For example, in the season of Lent our practice is more about preparation than any other theme.  We read those parts of the story that have to do with how Jesus prepared for his death and resurrection.  And our traditions help us to prepare, as well.

The logic of the seasons starts with Easter.  Without that part of the story our seasonal traditions have no base, no anchor, no movement and no calendar.  All our seasonal traditions hang on Easter and serve our telling that part of the story with how they expose the story in their turns.

Year after year we work our way through the story and our liturgy helps us do that.  That's the long part.  The high part is the story itself.  The gospel John tells it best: In the beginning was the Word. . .