Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
January 6th, 2019Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
Deuteronomy 4:9About Traditions
(Note: For this first edition of the 15th year of Reflections we look back to the initial edition published January 2, 2005. Our family has grown since then; but with only a few minor variations, the account then accurately describes the traditions still practiced this past season and those expected to continue in the months to come.)
At our house this year we repeated our usual Christmas celebration patterns by purchasing a freshly cut Christmas tree and decorating it ornately; putting up the electric train as a complement to the increasingly elaborate setting for the lighted miniature Coca-Cola village; and the Christmas morning “package fest,” was followed by a bountiful meal featuring Janice’s prime rib (preceded of course by reciting in unison Mema’s mealtime prayer.) The next day we gathered to compete in an annual family golf tournament, and we will finish off the seasonal festivities this week when my sons join me at a men’s retreat at Laity Lodge.
These annual reenactments are expressions that reach back and connect us with memories we hold dear. Traditions vary from family to family and from household to household; but they are all founded in one common theme—love.
This Christmas we relived our memories and made some new ones by remaining true to our traditions, and we’ll repeat them again next year after we have celebrated each other’s birthdays, hunted Easter eggs, gathered for Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, watched fireworks on July 4th, and enjoyed several servings of Thanksgiving turkey and dressing prepared from Daddy’s spicy recipe. And at least one of those times steeped in family tradition, we will all worship together as our way to thank God for the many blessings He has bestowed on us.
We keep our traditions not only as a way of keeping our “I love you’s” current with each other, but also to instill the legacy of our values into the generations to come. When we fail to tell our stories over and over not only are the beautiful stories lost, but of much greater concern, the underlying values perish with them.
The Deuteronomy message of Moses’ sermon is that when we teach our children, we teach our children’s children. So, in this New Year may we instill our values by remaining true to our traditions remembering that,
You are the light of the world,
Richard +
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