Celebrations That I Miss Most

As I reflect on my childhood and youth growing up in a Brahmin household in India, one of the things I miss most is the rhythm of celebrations that marked the year. Every few months there was a festival to anticipate, prepare for, and enjoy. Each celebration had its own foods, songs, decorations, family gatherings, and communal memories. These were not simply religious rituals. They were also expressions of beauty, hospitality, creativity, and belonging. They gave the year texture and color. They reminded people that life was not only about work and responsibility, but also about joy, gratitude, and community.

I still remember Sri Krishna Jayanti, when my family decorated the house with tiny footprints made from rice flour, symbolizing the arrival of the child Krishna. I remember the special foods prepared for the occasion and the anticipation surrounding the day. I remember Navaratri, with its nine days of celebration, homes decorated with displays of dolls and figurines, women singing traditional songs, families visiting one another, and special foods prepared each day. I remember Diwali mornings beginning with excitement, firecrackers, festive meals, and a sense of celebration that seemed to fill the entire neighborhood.

As a follower of Jesus, I do not believe it is unspiritual to acknowledge that I miss those rhythms. In fact, I have come to believe that the human desire for celebration is deeply connected to how God created us. The Bible itself is filled with sacred rhythms of remembrance and rejoicing. God gave Israel the Sabbath—not simply as a day of rest, but as a day of delight, worship, and gratitude. He also established multiple festivals throughout the year: Passover, Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, and others. These celebrations shaped the identity of God’s people by reminding them of His faithfulness, His provision, and His presence. The Feast of Tabernacles especially stands out to me. God commanded Israel to live in temporary shelters for a week, remembering their dependence on Him during their wilderness journey. It was an embodied celebration of memory, trust, and joy.

This raises a question I have wrestled with for many years: Why has evangelical Christianity often been hesitant to recognize the richness of culture as something that can reflect God’s creativity and goodness?

Of course, every culture has elements that are broken by sin. Every culture contains things that must be challenged, rejected, or redeemed. Christians are called to discern all things through the light of Scripture. But does that mean we should discard cultural expressions of beauty, community, celebration, music, art, hospitality, and family simply because they emerged outside the Christian tradition? Or could we ask a different question: What aspects of our cultures were already echoes of God’s goodness, waiting to be redeemed and fulfilled in Christ?

The gospel does not erase culture. Revelation 7:9 gives us a picture of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language worshiping before God’s throne. The kingdom of God is not a colorless uniformity; it is a redeemed diversity.

I sometimes wonder what Indian Christianity might have looked like if we had more intentionally asked how our cultural forms could be transformed through Christ rather than simply abandoned. After becoming a Christian, many of the celebrations that shaped my childhood disappeared. Christmas, Easter, and New Year remained, but much of the broader rhythm of communal celebration was lost. Perhaps some of that caution was necessary. Perhaps some practices needed to be left behind. But perhaps some things could have been redeemed. Could there have been Christ-centered celebrations that remained deeply Indian? Could there have been festivals that celebrated God’s creation, family, community, gratitude, and redemption while pointing people to Jesus? I believe the answer is yes. The gospel is not a rejection of everything that came before. It is the fulfillment and transformation of what is good, true, and beautiful.

The question for us as evangelicals is not simply, “What must we reject?” but also: “Where is God already at work in human cultures, and how can we help redeem those expressions for His glory?”Perhaps the church needs not only a theology of discernment, but also a theology of celebration.