Holidays and Holydays

Determined as it is by the phase of the moon in the West, the Easter celebration fell on the same day for both the Roman Catholic (west) and the Orthodox (east) Christian churches.  Some seemed to wonder how Christians could not agree with each other, even for the celebration of the day of Jesus’ resurrection.  If varied for so simple and noncontroversial issue as a day for the celebration of the great victory (life over death) of the Christian faith, what will happen when the complexities of doctrines, of life and learning are introduced to a public that generally wants only to live and let live?  Without the threats of the negative machinations of mankind, populations would manage fairly well with fire and water, winds and tornadoes, earthquakes and landslides.  They are modest problems compared to warfare, terrorism, crime, abuse, selfishness, greed – and the list of evils generated by mankind grows long.  For the general public, Easter seems to hold an invitation to peace and affirmation for mankind that raises the concept of immortality – and that may or may not be true, but offers counter concerns about death.  Emerging springtime life helps too.

When I was a lad, much of secular society used the Christian calendar to plan some of the year’s general programming, as it had for centuries.  For example, Spring break for public schools was determined by the appearance of Easter.  It is now scheduled without regard to the original meaning.  Only by chance do the two appear together in the calendar.  With the observations above granted and the decline in the public of the meaning of holy days to holidays, I would like to make a modest, but dramatic proposal.  Further, my proposal relates to the growing pressure to declare days, or weeks, even months as special cause for this or that emphasis in some observation of particular interest.  My proposal is that the states and/or nation grant that every Sunday be designated as at the beginning of a new theme week, not only for honor but for education to serve values.  The Church could easily use the designations while keeping her own calendar since there is something to be learned from Christianity about any interest designated for any society. 

We would begin by placing our current holidays with something of a grandfather perception of precedence.  In this the Sundays nearest or traditionally on the Sunday nearest to it would be declared as Thanksgiving Week, Mother’s Week, Father’s Week, Children’s Week, Leader’s (Presidents)Week, Labor’s Week, Memorial (Decoration) Week, Multi-cultural (Racial, minorities, differences) Week, and so the list may be formed before any new ones are determined and introduced.  Each state would design its participation.  Congress would declare some Mondays to be added to the immediately previous day so recognized as a national holiday in each of the chosen dates, not to be perceived as superior to others, but special to citizenship as perceived by government representing national values, perhaps also the marking of quarters such a New Year’s Day (winter), Spring Day (April Fool’s Day), Summer’s Day (Fourth of July), Fall’s Day (first Sunday in October), Labor Sunday (on the end Sunday of August), Student Sunday (the first Sunday in September), and so the story may proceed. Certainly the various holidays will receive variant accents of interest and importance, but it would be up to those who cared about the affirmatives of the days to accent them, to teach about them, to invite participation in them, to give force to the development of a society related to the past, present and future, to foster democracy and freedom, and for faith groups to put their best foot forward in developing the ideas and ideals related to the themes, especially in common grace – for morality.  In that consideration even doubters may introduce opposing arguments that a nation made of multi-cultural groupings might take in agreement or tolerance of one another.  In this approach I would choose a Sunday for Service, Love, Government, Business, Art, Literature, Media, World, Future, Ethics, Family, Life, Hope, Values, Earth, and the possibilities are greater in number than the Sundays of a year.  That number can cover the issues of public education and of faith we need to address.  With current loss of general education in civics and life, such a program might well serve responsible community and true loyalty.  Such a program would honor democracy in gaining life formation and experience for all in modern pluralism. Education courses in Civics belong in high school – designed by a Federal/State Board.