Garden Take 2, CCGS, and Holy Holidays
Holy Holidays
Today is Palm Sunday. It is the beginning of Holy Week. I'll be honest, I have never really been into the whole Christmas being Jesus' birthday and celebrating Holy Week with Easter being resurrection Sunday. It was always too religious for me. I get what it all means. But let's face it, those holidays were once something else and the church dropped religion on them so Christians could celebrate something too...hehehe
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, that is an opinion. And it isn't a strong opinion. Why do I even care that a different set of holidays were once celebrated at those times? Why do I care that the church wanted to be celebrating something too? I suppose part of it is because it sounds so similar to Israel wanting a king. Just like Israel not needing a king, I don't really need a holiday to celebrate Jesus. I'm finding that celebrating Him every day now is so much more fulfilling.
Okay again, now that I got that out of the way...hehehe I absolutely love Christmas and Easter. It doesn't sound like it from the above...hehehe I love the traditions. I love the colors. I love the joy in children's hearts. I love the memories of when I was a child. I love the music. I even love going to church during those events. Weird that I've never really been into the religious part, right? Well, I've mentioned before that I'm not a religious person. For me, religion has been about the works and ceremony of being a Christian. Whereas my faith is all about Who I am as a Christian. I am His.
I don't mean to judge others by this, but I find most Christians are Sunday or holiday Christians. I, myself, have been guilty of this for years. Christianity is a lifestyle. It is an every day decision to look for and do the Will of God. But I really need to let that judgement go. Again, I don't mean to judge. And again, I'm guilty of this sometimes. I'm growing. And I hope I can inspire others to grow as well.
I'm just sharing one of my many thoughts on the subject here. And this one came up because of it being Holy Week now. I'm too passionate to just go through the motions. So I am looking for purpose and meaning for these seasons for myself if I'm going to celebrate them as Christian holidays. I haven't found it yet. But I'm not going to stop looking. I care too much about this to just settle for my weak opinions. I never really talk about this particular opinion. I think this might be the first time I've even written about it.
Something I'm going to try this year is attempting to watch the Calvary Chapel GS Holy Week services. If I can't see them live, I'm hoping they post them the next day so I can see them. After all, the services are quite late for my timezone. My church doesn't have a set of Holy Week services. But we do have a daily devotional this week. I just remembered about that...hehehe So I missed today's. Perhaps I'll double up tomorrow to catch up...LOL
I'm not satisfied with just having an opinion like this. I'm at a point in my life where I truly want to find answers. Will my opinion change? Maybe... Maybe not... It won't change the fact that I still actually do love these seasons. They still warm my heart...hehehe
CCGS
I watched the live feed of Calvary Chapel GS for the 3rd week in a row today. Today's worship music was just like what we have at my church. One of my favorites, Battle Belongs, was one of them. Once again, I found myself on my knees with my hands lifted high...hehehe
Unlike the last few weeks, today's message didn't cover an entire chapter of a book. He spoke about the passage with Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This made sense since today is...Palm Sunday...LOL
As I mentioned above, I'll try to do the Holy Week messages this week from CCGS. I may also watch the sonrise service on Easter at 9am my time. I should be out of my local service by then. If it doesn't work out, that's okay too.
After this week, I'll decide if I plan to continue participating in their worship services. I always give something like this 3 weeks. I've already done that. But with it being Holy Week and Easter, I decided I'll wait to make my decision until after that.
My original motivation was to join Chérie where she attends and watches. We have been in fellowship for a while now and also doing a devotional together. It seemed only natural to try attending church together as well. However, I don't do these things for the other person or really for myself. It's about our relationship to God. If not called to do so, I don't want to do so, if that makes sense? I don't go to any church for anyone. And I don't go if I'm not feeling it that week.
It's just too important to just be going through the motions. Some things in life need to be done regardless of how I feel in the moment. My walk with Christ isn't one of those. The condition of my heart is very important with this. God is with me everywhere. Not just at church...hehehe
Florida Botanical Gardens
I revisited Florida Botanical Gardens today. But once again, my time there was limited...LOL I only had a 2 hour window and it is too big to do in that amount of time. I missed out on an entire section because it closed an hour before the rest of it...LOL I didn't realize it when I arrived or I would have hit that up first.
I was able to explore more of it than last time, though. And it is so much bigger than I thought it was. There is so much to see and do! There are also so many places to stop and eat or reflect. And there are benches and seats everywhere! It is such a relaxing little slice of heaven on earth.