TRADITIONS

Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past, what to enjoy in the present, and what to plan for in the future.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

One of my favorite movies is the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” 

The story is interesting, the acting is superb, and the music is exquisite.  It takes place in a small Jewish village in Russia in the early 1900s and follows the happenings of Tevye, a poor milkman.  Tevye has a wife and five daughters and is a devout Jew.  One of the delightful things in the movie is Tevye’s conversations with God as he goes about his life.  We learn a lot about him through these conversations.

At the beginning of the movie, Tevye acts as narrator to the audience, explaining about life in their little town of Anatevka, setting the premise for the movie’s story.  He says:

“A fiddler on the roof.  Sounds crazy, no?  But here in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck.  It isn’t easy.  You may ask, why do we stay up there if it’s so dangerous?  We stay because Anatevka is our home.  And how do we keep our balance?  That I can tell you in one word:  tradition!”

 Tevye then explains how tradition determines everything they do in their lives, the roles each person plays, and even how to eat and wear their clothes.  “Because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do,” says Tevye.  “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!”  Tevye’s point is that following traditions keep their lives orderly and secure.

We each have traditions that help us to bond with one another, to acknowledge special events, and also as a way to mark the passage of time.

At the end of every school year, there is the tradition of graduation ceremonies, where those who have completed a certain level of their education are celebrated and recognized for their achievements.

There’s the tradition of bridal showers to help newlyweds establish their home and baby showers to provide first-time parents with items they’ll need for their new baby.

Funerals and memorial services are traditionally held when someone dies to help people recover and receive closure after losing a loved one.

And of course, there is the celebration of the anniversary of someone’s birth, which traditionally includes singing “Happy Birthday to You!” and giving presents.

Holidays present many opportunities to engage in traditional activities.

On February 14, expressions of love are given through cards and gifts of candy.

There’s the tradition of coloring eggs at Easter time and going on Easter egg hunts.

Having picnics and fireworks on the 4^th of July.

Dressing in costumes and going door-to-door trick or treating on Halloween.  Also, carving funny or scary faces in pumpkins.

Families gathering for turkey dinner on Thanksgiving.

Decorating with lights, putting up Christmas trees, and exchanging gifts on Christmas.

Having a party and staying up past midnight on December 31 to welcome the New Year.

December has several holidays which bring a myriad of family traditions.

Hanukkah is the Jewish eight-day “Festival of Lights.” It celebrates the victory of a small band of Jews against all odds over one of the mightiest armies on earth, reclaiming their Holy Temple, and the miracle of one day’s worth of oil keeping the Temple menorah lit for eight days.

Hanukkah family traditions include lighting the menorah, a nine-branched candelabra, on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah, playing dreidel, a four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters, eating potato pancakes (latkes), and exchanging gifts.

Kwanzaa honors African heritage in African-American culture.

It is a week-long holiday held from December 26 to January 1. Each day of the celebration is dedicated to one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa: unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.  Seven candles in the African colors of red, green, and black symbolize the seven principles. 

Each day, the family comes together to light one of the candles and discuss that day’s principle.  On December 31, families join in a community feast.  They enjoy African fare, and some participants wear traditional African clothing for the celebration.

Christmas is the Christian holiday on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

Numerous families have special traditions they follow in the days preceding Christmas Day. One of these traditions is the lighting of the Advent Wreath.

The four weeks leading up to Christmas constitute the Advent season, a time of preparation for hearts and minds in commemoration of the Lord’s birth on Christmas. This is symbolized by the lighting of the five candles of the Advent wreath. Four candles are placed around the wreath and represent the four weeks of Advent. One candle is lit each Sunday, leading up to Christmas Eve.

Three of the candles are purple indicating a time of prayer, penance, and sacrifice. One candle is pink, signifying joy. A white candle is placed in the middle of the wreath and lit on Christmas Eve. This candle is called the “Christ Candle” and represents the life of Christ. The color white is for purity—because Christ is our sinless, pure Savior.

Many families have developed fun traditions in the days leading up to Christmas.

One of my sons and his family plan a day to find and cut down a Christmas tree.  They enjoy many activities together at the place where they go Christmas tree hunting.  One of the things they do every year at the Christmas tree farm is to take a family photo in the unique surroundings of pine trees. Then, of course, there is the excitement of decorating the tree once they get it home.

My other son’s wife and daughter and her mom and sister spend an entire Saturday before Christmas every year baking Christmas cookies together.  My daughter-in-law has been doing this since she was a small girl with her mom and sister.  Then when she had a daughter of her own, they included her in this baking tradition starting when she was 2 years old.  My granddaughter’s job then was to put sprinkles on the cookies, but she wound up eating more sprinkles than she got on the cookies! 

Now she is a teenager and quite an accomplished cookie decorator.  Every year they bake dozens of cookies, arrange them beautifully on platters, and give them away.  I’m happy to always receive one of these marvelous Holiday Cookie Platters!

My family has a very silly tradition in connection with gift-giving.

One year when one of my sons was a teenager, we ordered several movie DVDs from Amazon for him as Christmas gifts.  Amazon accidentally included a DVD we did not order: “Engelbert Humperdinck Live at the London Palladium.”  Our teenage son was not a fan of Engelbert, so we thought it would be funny to wrap it up and give it to him for Christmas.  When he opened it, he was equally perplexed and disgusted, and we all had a hearty laugh over the joke. 

He surprised us when the following Christmas, one of us opened a gift that contained the Engelbert DVD. Our son had even used the same box we had initially put it in–a blue foil Harry & David fruit box that we had recycled as a gift box.  Thus began our surprise gifting of the Engelbert DVD every Christmas to a different family member.  We do it to this day, even using the same blue foil gift box, which shows the wear and tear of almost 3 decades of gifting!

Traditions bring us together, give us perspective and meaning, and can be heartwarming fun.

I trust you have some beautiful traditions in your families too.  I’d love to know what they are.  Write about them in the comments section.  I’m sure they will warm our hearts and give us a smile!