Traditions
Traditions, traditions. Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as... as a fiddler on the roof! Tevye (Fiddler on the Roof)
There was a time when I would sooner cut of my thumbs and big toes with a plastic picnic knife before I committed the heresy of purchasing a fake Christmas tree. Then there was the unfortunate incident of 2004.
After stocking, killing and mounting a majestic specimen of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir) we trimmed it with thousands of multi-colored twinkling lights and a plethora of ornaments. It was… spectacular. After about a week something was amiss. Since Kris and I were married we had a tradition; she would pester me to water the tree and I would pretend to ignore her until she did it, to which I would respond, "Thanks, I was just going to do that". 2004: no pestering. It didn’t seem quite like the holidays. Being a generous fellow, a giver, I decided to check the water. Perhaps Kris had forgotten in the hustle of the season. It was full, to which I responded "Thanks, I was going to do that". Kris told me that she thought I had been doing it unprompted. At that moment all the needles started falling off. By Christmas we had a not so majestic specimen of dry stick wrapped with 100 feet of electrical wire and ornaments. It looked as if it might spontaneously combust at any moment. We finally got all the needles cleaned up the next Thanksgiving. I bought a fake tree.
An artificial tree has resulted in two things. First, the quality of lighting is much higher. Though I try, I can never quite make the tree look like anything more than a tree wrapped with extension cords. The artificial tree is pre-lit; each branch has its own lights. It has significantly increased my tree trimming joy quotient. Second, now that the try no longer drops needles I was able to purchase, for the children, a Lionel Polar Express train to put around its base. All this and it appears to be somewhat resilient to minor flooding in the basement.
Traditions usually fall into two categories; intentional and unintentional. The unintentional ones are like turkey on Thanksgiving. It’s just they way we’ve always done it nobody really knows why. Then there are the intentional ones.
After the Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years God had Joshua tell the Levites to go before the people with The Ark of the Covenant. As soon as the priests put there feet in the water of the Jordan River the water backed up and the whole nation was able to cross on dry ground. Then Joshua commanded a man from each tribe to take a large stone to the middle of the Jordan river where Joshua built a memorial to the LORD. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:5-7 (NIV)
Christmas is a wonderful time of fun, memories and traditions. As my children get older it is a challenge to istall traditions that are a memorial to The One who came, as a man, lived among us, died, rose on the third day, ascended and now sits next to the Father waiting for the appointed time to return for His people.
That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Romans 8:19-23 (The Message)
There was a time when I would sooner cut of my thumbs and big toes with a plastic picnic knife before I committed the heresy of purchasing a fake Christmas tree. Then there was the unfortunate incident of 2004.
After stocking, killing and mounting a majestic specimen of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir) we trimmed it with thousands of multi-colored twinkling lights and a plethora of ornaments. It was… spectacular. After about a week something was amiss. Since Kris and I were married we had a tradition; she would pester me to water the tree and I would pretend to ignore her until she did it, to which I would respond, "Thanks, I was just going to do that". 2004: no pestering. It didn’t seem quite like the holidays. Being a generous fellow, a giver, I decided to check the water. Perhaps Kris had forgotten in the hustle of the season. It was full, to which I responded "Thanks, I was going to do that". Kris told me that she thought I had been doing it unprompted. At that moment all the needles started falling off. By Christmas we had a not so majestic specimen of dry stick wrapped with 100 feet of electrical wire and ornaments. It looked as if it might spontaneously combust at any moment. We finally got all the needles cleaned up the next Thanksgiving. I bought a fake tree.
An artificial tree has resulted in two things. First, the quality of lighting is much higher. Though I try, I can never quite make the tree look like anything more than a tree wrapped with extension cords. The artificial tree is pre-lit; each branch has its own lights. It has significantly increased my tree trimming joy quotient. Second, now that the try no longer drops needles I was able to purchase, for the children, a Lionel Polar Express train to put around its base. All this and it appears to be somewhat resilient to minor flooding in the basement.
Traditions usually fall into two categories; intentional and unintentional. The unintentional ones are like turkey on Thanksgiving. It’s just they way we’ve always done it nobody really knows why. Then there are the intentional ones.
After the Israelites wandered in the dessert for 40 years God had Joshua tell the Levites to go before the people with The Ark of the Covenant. As soon as the priests put there feet in the water of the Jordan River the water backed up and the whole nation was able to cross on dry ground. Then Joshua commanded a man from each tribe to take a large stone to the middle of the Jordan river where Joshua built a memorial to the LORD. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." Joshua 4:5-7 (NIV)
Christmas is a wonderful time of fun, memories and traditions. As my children get older it is a challenge to istall traditions that are a memorial to The One who came, as a man, lived among us, died, rose on the third day, ascended and now sits next to the Father waiting for the appointed time to return for His people.
That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Romans 8:19-23 (The Message)
posted by P Keener @ 1:10 AM
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