Moses and Sweet Pea: A Look at Traditions

This merry time of year always brings thoughts of traditions past and present to mind. Moses and Sweet Pea are a new addition to my family’s annual tradition of selecting a live tree to cut and decorate. The little farm where we have picked out a tree each year for the last 20 has taken to naming their evergreens. This year, my granddaughter and I found a charming tree called Sweet Pea that she was sure surpassed every other tree on the farm with perfect height, circumference, and rich green color. Moses was two rows over, standing taller and rounder. A family vote was taken, with Moses the winner. My granddaughter gave in gracefully, stating that next year’s tree will be Sweet Pea.

My family has other traditions held against a backdrop of time. Every Christmas Eve when I was a girl found us gathered around my  great-uncle’s fireplace listening to my great-grandmother sing carols to us in her native German. My father’s mother, Ollie, made pies each Christmastime, filled with   luscious berries and apples picked at ripeness the summer before and canned in her kitchen.  Gifts were scare in that Depression-era home, but the warm smells of holiday cheer were abundant.

Traditions bring delight to our souls. They mark time and celebration, sweet in their return to our calendar.  Even the Apostle Paul was delighted when the church at Corinth followed his instructions in biblical traditions:

Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.  I praise and appreciate you because you remember me in everything and you firmly hold to the traditions [the substance of my instructions], just as I have passed them on to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1-2

As you  and your family return to time-honored traditions again this December, take time to reflect on the traditions written in God’s Word. Honor and pass these traditions on to those you love. Their value is eternal.