I've dusted off this post from four years ago as a reminder of the importance of tradition. This year, due to various work and school obligations, it feels like we've hardly sat down to dinner together as a family. That means we've lost and picked up the thread of the Nativity story we usually read with grace. And rather than the kids vying to light and blow out the candles, they do so with a sense of "meh."So here's to reclaiming traditions....or perhaps starting new ones.
My daughter had to give a presentation at
school about her family’s holiday traditions. She chose to talk about Advent.
When she had finished speaking, a boy in her class raised his hand and asked,
“Do you still celebrate Christmas?”
Actually, this year we may be just celebrating
Christmas since, in the move, I’ve managed to misplace our Advent wreath,
children’s nativity set, and Advent calendar, a book called The Story of
Christmas.
Those objects are replaceable of course, but
one of the nice things about traditions is unpacking the ones you have used
year after year. The corners may be dog eared, the wreath may be splattered
with pink and purple wax, and the donkey may be missing a tail, but that is
part of what makes them yours.
Whether you are starting a new tradition or
supplementing an old, perhaps one of these books will add to your Advent
season:
The Light of
theWorld: Daily Meditations for Advent and Christmas by Phyllis Zagano
A
Gift for the Christ Child: A Christmas Folktale by Anne Wilson and
Linda Schlafer
Manger edited
by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Light
Upon Light: ALiterary Guide to Prayer for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany compiled
by Sarah Arthur
Who
Built the Stable?: A Nativity Poem by Ashley Bryan
Pretty Paper by
Willie Nelson and David Ritz
