Traditions are an anchor – they mark time passing in a valuable way. There’s a quote about traditions attributed to Fred Rogers that began my pondering on this topic:
“Traditions, big or small, create anchors of stability, especially in rough seas.“
~ Fred Rogers
Rough seas. Would you say we’re in a rough sea kinda time-period? I would.
Whether the roughness of the waters are from worry about financial well-being, or relationship strife, or political unrest or health and pandemic fears… We all need to remain calm. Find our anchor. Maybe it’s in a tradition?
An anchor in a rough sea – the power of a tradition.
Make a list of all the traditions you have had in your life. If you share life with others, ask them. What food did you eat – what music, which people, what did you wear, where did you gather, were there words spoken or activities and more…
What was truly important about the tradition? (Not just the fluff!)
How could you revive a tradition?
How could you revive a tradition even in this time of quarantine and pandemic parameters?
In Canada – this weekend – the country will celebrate Thanksgiving. Our immediate family has lived in the USA for the last two decades, but this year we are going to revisit our Canadian roots. Rob bought a turkey – I’ll be making it with his family’s stuffing recipe. (It’s delicious, by the way. It has bacon in it!) And I’ll be making butter tarts – they’re a family favorite and a Canadian (or at least an Ontario) favorite… I use my mom’s recipe. (It’s in the photo.) We will anchor our weekend in being Thankful. Because, for us, this time needs some focus on being grateful.
Overarching everything, as a human, a wife, and mom and Gram, I firstly anchor myself in Christ. I believe, as Christians, we rely on our faith to be a strong foundation for life. Is it always easy? No. Are this time period and all the restrictions feeling like our faith experience is normal? No. But we continue to anchor ourselves in Christ. Not the outer trappings of a tradition – but the inner security of a Saviour who overcame everything and can walk with us through everything – even this! This is our testing ground and we will work to make the real tradition of what our faith means – remain stronger than ever.
How about you? Traditions are an anchor.
Which tradition would you choose to anchor your life with right now?
Even if you can’t do it exactly as you’d choose, how could you adapt it or revise it to honor the real meaning of why you celebrate the tradition?
Be thankful for traditions – because they’re anchors of stability.
This post is the 8th of 30 days of Thankfulness. Parts of the original post and this one- along with much more – will be included in a document available for download at the end of October 2020. Subscribe to be sure to receive it!
And the photo is of my mom and dad before I was born… can you see the two metal brads – leaf shapes? They represent Canada and the city we now live in… That’s what journaling is about – connecting place, spaces, and times…
I too like the traditions which make me happy and feel peaceful.They are indeed anchors
My sister and I live in different cities. She engages and continues traditions with my parents, also in her city, and her sons. So there is agreement and participation in mostly food traditions around holidays. My husband does not share my food traditions, nor has he expressed interest or enthusiasm. So although I tried for a few years to maintain that connection (“see? here’s my photo of the Easter breakfast?!”), it felt like one hand clapping. So some of those traditions live in my mind now, and are not realized.
I think some traditions are, indeed, anchors. Holding us back, pulling us down. It’s best to evaluate which propel your life forward and which need to be jettisoned.
Since we live many states away from our family, the holidays are usually solitary ones anyway, so it won’t be much different this year for us.