When Henry the 8th crafted the Church of England, and a redacted version of the Bible, it was primarily for his ability to end a marriage without a beheading. He got what he wanted, and the English Bishop's and Arch-Bishop's removed most Catholic holiday's or celebration's and "un-cannonized" Catholic Saint's denouncing the Pope. The Catholic church, initially with it's Roman legion's was secretive, quick to use military and civil force, and ruthless toward's it's perceived enemies.
Martin Luther left the Catholic Church to begin the Protestant revolution. Before the commercial use of the Gutenberg press, all Bible's were hand transcribed, mostly by monks. A German bible was printed the first year, and 12 different version's of English Bible's were printed the following year; no two alike. The climate was right for England to break ties with Italy and Germany and craft an independent national religion, just as every empire throughout time has done. The church of England removed the sainthood's as a legalistic separation. Nearly every empire has sought to incorporate their own, similar designation's of holiday's and celebration's. Fertility celebrations in spring, planting of crop's Harvest festivals, followed by gratitude, and finally a grand holiday to get through the dark and cold day's of winter. None-the-less, I have friend's with strong belief in their English date on the Roman calendar. 12 days of Christmas is the universal number of Greek God's, Roman God's and Disciples, the baker's dozen including Jesus.
So celebrations have been a significant part of history, with the above major celebrations and inclusion of a vast array of nationalized holiday's and celebration's. Independence day, Memorial and Labor day's, tribute day's (MLK), and any excuse days; Cinco de Mayo, Super-bowl and Oscar Sunday's, 420 and many many more.
This be the topic. If "celebration" is an inherent constituent of life, and we are told in the good book to celebrate both God's love and that of Jesus, why do we choose not to celebrate every day. Celebrate life. Sunday is a minimalist sacrifice of commerce and dedication to community, praise and worship.
The stoic's (Epiclitis, Pythagoras, Plato, Socrates) knew this, and chose to awaken in celebration with purpose and intention. Their teachings are vast and inclusive, and were furthered by some philosopher's over time. Their's was a path that most do not pursue, and therefore do not pursue themselves. If you spoke the language and somehow met up with Socrates, he would not admit hardship in his walk. For him, and successful stoics (the currency of these successes is measured in units of wisdom and experience), this not a matter of choice, it is simply the integration of these principles into the art of being.
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