Memories of Sukkot

For about five years, I have wanted to celebrate Sukkot.  But as a Gentile, raised in churches whose calendars focus on the two main Roman-instituted holidays, I had no understanding of how to go about it.  So I kept my nose in the scriptures, and also watched a great movie called "Ushpizin," filmed in Jerusalem by an orthodox filmmaker. 

Also this year, I purchased this book:

Very helpful.  So I decided to just jump in and build a sukkah.  Using pallets, garden stakes, juniper branches, and leftover deck paint, I came up with the following:

Ironically, the only thing I purchased was Christmas lights.  We had a celebration with good friends and good food, complete with God-honoring worship and teaching time.  What a meaningful and joyous holiday it was!  I didn't feel empty afterwards, the way I used to when I still celebrated Christmas.  There was no materialistic frenzy that left a hangover-type feeling the next day.  Building the sukkah was way more fun than any tree I ever decorated.  And at our celebration, my daughter and a friend from her childhood experienced a wonderful restoration of friendship that had been lost.

I am so thankful that many congregations are looking back to their Biblical, Jewish roots and working to restore them.  Tradition can be a difficult thing to leave behind, but God's word gives us so many oppportunities to create new ones... traditions that are steeped in the Bible and in the Feasts (appointed times) of the Lord.  Zechariah 14:16 tells us that all the nations of the world will be celebrating this Feast in the coming kingdom, so we might as well start enjoying it now!

 



 

If you want some Biblical background for this wonderful Feast, check out my previous post.