Ascension Day

^{After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (Acts 1:9)}

            Augustine claimed that according to apostolic tradition, the fourth Thursday after Easter is the day to celebrate the Ascension. I'm not really much of a holiday person partly because I'm not a party person. I'm more interested in the meaning behind a day than with the hoopla. Perhaps it's evidence of my lack of education, but I've never seen the sense to Shrove Tuesday, or Ash Wednesday, or Maundy Thursday. I am even a little dubious about celebrating Christmas, but it seems to me that celebrating Christ's ascension makes complete sense. This is a holiday I'm going to add to my calendar.

             I have to admit, until I looked at the calendar for today's blog entry, I'd never considered celebrating the Ascension or Pentecost. Church holidays and traditions tend to be curiosities. But if Easter is the most important Christian holiday, what are the next most important events? At the moment, I would say His return (date unknown), Pentecost, and His Ascension. These ought to be at least as significant in our lives as Mother's Day.

            This year's celebration is going to be necessarily bare-bones. I may try to put something together for Sunday, which is the modern date of its celebration. Next year's celebration is something to which I can look forward and plan. Care to join me?+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On the Calendar

Ascension Day

Birthday of

Soren Kierkagaard

Karl Marx

Henryk Sienkiewicz