Holidays and holy nights - Christopher Hill

For many people the chaos of fifty-hour workweeks and the demands of family have created a hectic, routine-driven life. Time itself becomes a conveyor belt moving us continuously from one demand to the next and year-to-year. Holidays and Holy Nights offers an escape from the conveyor-belt life and introduces us to the cyclical and deeply spiritual Christian liturgical year. This joyous book "unpacks" theology to uncover the poetic, symbolic, folkloric, psychological, and mystical nature of the liturgical year. Moving through the four seasons, Hill discusses holidays such as the Feast of Michaelmas, Halloween, Advent, Christmas Eve, Easter Vigil, and the Transfiguration. After evoking the experience of the seasons/festivals, Hill shows how they developed in history, theology, and folklore. He then offers specific suggestions for participating more deeply in the seasons, for Christians and non-Christians alike. Holidays and Holy Nights is a guide for all spiritual seekers looking for ritual and a way to create sacred time in our own lives, inspiring us to practice festival as a form of high fun or reverential play.