There's a very real sense in which the church serves as the gatekeeper or as the guardian of time. If we recognize holidays and special times, and insist on them, and insist on their meaning, then the rest of the world listens to us. And, if we refuse to recognize some of the special times which the world celebrates, if we refuse to go along with some of the patriotic or civic or pagan celebrations, then the world listens to that, too. I really think that the church could think more carefully about the times which it celebrates, or endorses, and about the times which it stands out against, which it consciously and publicly ignores. People are born, and they die.
People get sick, and they get better.
You get wars, and maybe if you're lucky, you have peace. All this stuff just happens. You can't do anything about it. When your number's up, it's up. That's just the way the cookie crumbles. . .