What is a tradition?
Do traditions help or hinder us?
Traditions give us a sense of community, of belonging and expectations, a certain rhythm in life.
Consider the tradition of opening gifts on Christmas day. This tradition in our home has went through a number of iterations, which to be honest, argues against the “expectations” concept above. But nevertheless, as our children grew, we introduced different methods of celebrating the Christmas gift opening event.
First it was a conventional delegated gift giver at the base of the tree, picking gifts for each child and waiting as we all watched them receive it and express their gratitude. Soon, the tradition became more of a game, with my wife and I staying up Christmas night and hiding all the gifts, writing out a list of riddles for each gift and which child the gift was meant for. This extended the celebration, and we found that the chillun actually worked together for the hunting. In my opinion, it was a hit with the kids. (Mom and dad were a bit tired, but hey – memories were made!)
Lately, we have considered the materialism of Christmas, and as the children matured into adults, considered the intent of the gifts in the celebration. We tended to pull away from material gifting, and moved over to creating memories for us as a family.
Suffice it to say, traditions such our gift giving at Christmas (fluid as it was), birthday parties, wedding customs and even sports events have been woven into our lives.
This short series on traditions will consider what the Word provides as guidance in the believers life. We will follow the primary Greek word “paradosis” the New Testament writers used that we understand as “tradition”. Below, find the proverbial Vines Expository definition of the term we will be looking into during our time together. Sure hope to see you at our next post as we dive into Matthew 15.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
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Thanks for sharing your family’s evolving Christmas traditions. One day that has evolved a lot for us over the years is Good Friday. We have done a family fast from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M., including no media; those are the hours Jesus was on the cross. We have also visited the cemetery in our city and examined the variety of things written on tombstones. Another tradition, which has become our most common one, has been to go to a nature area, do some hiking (which we love to do anyway), and then read/discuss the seven things Jesus said on the cross. We also now usually invite another family or two to come with us.
We have strived not to be “wooden” in our various traditions on Good Friday and other holidays, but to do things which will hopefully help all of us focus on the Lord.
Blessings to you and your family.
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