Learning the Church's Seasons "We don't do Ascension!"

I'm working hard to become a full-blown grumpy old goat (GOG) - if it was a postgraduate thing it'd be doctoral level - but there are days when I feel there's good reason for being one! And today i I feel that this might be the case as I bask in the shadow of grossly complacent Christian ignorance.

The reason for my reaching for the walking stick to wave at the miscreant believer complete with the words, "And I know there you live you know!" is the amazingly ease they possessed when they told me that their church doesn't 'do' Ascension! How can we claim to be Christian and not observing the Ascension?

Christianity has a distinct shape and feel about it. There are rhythms and events which communicate amazing truths. The church's liturgical year starts with Advent and ends with 'Christ the King'.

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There is a reason that we have the liturgical seasons: They teach us to understand, and create, a pattern which makes sense of the major events in the Christian faith. There are other feasts and festivals and commemorations which add to the picture, but the list above is a good starting place for the process of learning about our liturgy and the reasons we keep days as special.

So over the next few days we will be exploring and learning together the special times and seasons and hopefully by the end we will all have a better understanding of it all and some (who don't mark the Ascension) will begin to understand why this is a wrong practice.

See you shortly . . .