Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Big Christmas Buts

In the same way that the scent of cinnamon may remind you of your grandmother who always chewed Big Red and the rough rub of corduroy may remind you of your sofa back home, upholding certain traditions can conjure feelings of comfort and security.  For most people, December is flush with ritual.  This is a good thing, until it is not.

Christmas is alive.  It does not matter whether you and yours are celebrating the birth of a baby this time of year.  Yes, God is alive, but so is much else around us.  Families are alive.  Creation is alive.  Love is alive.  Traditions, however, are not.  Traditions are not the reason to celebrate.  We should celebrate for the sake of love, the beauty of nature, our families and the One who holds this all together.

Therefore, some traditions must die.  There should be no more "buts" at Christmas.

But, my parents did it this way growing up.

But, we never get a Douglas Fir.

But, that's not really a Christmas song.

But, photo cards are tacky.

But, we always have an 11 pm service.

But, Aunt Elsie expects fruitcake.

But, we always host dinner here.

Families grow.  The landscape around us evolves.  Love whithers and then blossoms anew.  Our holiday traditions should too.




11 comments:

  1. true dat. old or new, tradition is what we make it. and we should do it because we love it, not because we're supposed to. they're all good, as long as they're filled with love. (glad you made it under the buzzer) :)

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  2. Those traditions have to evolve. We have marriages and births and sometimes we have divorces and everybody has to be accomadated as best possible over the holidays.

    Traditions are nice, but I wonder is it really worth keeping Christmas at Gramma's if the house is too small and my mom ends up po'd the entire time because Gramma put the potatoes on too early and now we can't figure out how to drain them? Traditions need to be examined and maybe new traditions made when old ones are too exhausting.

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  3. I agree. My family always wants to do everything the same and it drives me crazy! I don't mind some things being the same year to year, but do we honestly have to eat the exact same food, exchange gifts in the exact same way and play the exact same games?? It's gotten so old hat, I don't think anyone even enjoys it anymore. So kudos to you for this post!

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  4. We're in the process of making new traditions and shedding old ones that no longer fit. I'm really enjoying it so far.

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  5. Although I love traditions, I agree that they need to evolve eventually. My extended family doesn't have many traditions other than getting together for a meal, exchanging gifts, and enjoying each other's company, but my husband and I are also creating traditions of our own.

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  6. Totally agree...it is nice to add your own traditions along the way, too! :)

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  7. I believe that some traditions are wonderful; others should die away.

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  8. I love this. I also love traditions, but as families grow and expand sometimes traditions need to change, and new ones adopted. Well said.

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  9. I wonder how many fights could be avoided if people expanded their horizons.

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  10. I'm quite happy to eschew tradition and am very glad that my hubby is flexible, too. Happy holidays to you!

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  11. AND HOW! If only! One of the best things about living overseas is having complete and total control over our Christmas :)

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