I have recently become more aware of a way of living as a Christian that is far older than any ideas of mine on the subject. It is called the liturgical calendar. Basically, as I understand it, the church created a way to celebrate the life of Jesus throughout the year by means of different seasons, fasts, celebrations, and holidays. You probably know that as a part of this we have Christmas and Easter, but what I did not know is that throughout the course of one calendar year, the liturgy covers the entire life of Christ. The surprise for me was that there is a great intentionality behind it all. It wasn’t just the accumulated festivals and religiosity of the ages. Not only is there intentionality, but that intentionality is designed to where if you follow the calendar, you have over the course of one year recognized Jesus’s entire earthly ministry. I could talk more about this, and you can find a blog on it HERE, but what I really want to set the stage for is Lent.