With the Thanksgiving holiday in full swing at my house, I’m busy baking, cleaning, and getting ready to host my extended family and Emily’s family here. Today I decided to surface something I wrote in 2010 on the importance of keeping traditions like Thanksgiving meals.

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Traditions Transcend Time

(An excerpt adapted and added to, from a piece I wrote in December 2010.)

We continue traditions because they honor those that paved the road for us. What makes a tradition special is its ability to transcend time – but only as long as the ones that carry it never set it down. It depends on this commitment to pass on from generation to generation.

The magical thing about traditions is that when you pass a tradition on, it stays with you, too.

Traditions have a way of stretching indefinitely, but never wearing thin.

In the same sense, it can increase in richness and expand in complexity, yet never become a burden to those that hold it.

A tradition honors any person who ever had a hand in carrying it on because it actively shows others that the original intentions, purposes, and goals of those it represents were worth noting then, now, and always.

For my family, Thanksgiving has always been about gathering the family together around a meal that each of us play a role in contributing a part. I am making my mom’s chicken dressing recipe and adding in some new traditions of my own – pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies and Emily’s favorite coconut cream pie. My sister makes green bean casserole every year, my dad and step-mom bring the ham and turkey, and my niece makes mac n cheese. Emily’s mom makes pies and potatoes. Together, we make something special we all can enjoy together.

Traditions Strengthen Us and Make a Way for Change

Traditions are not only crucial to our future, but give humanity a cohesion required to endure all forms and levels of hardships. Without traditions, we risk losing touch with the generations that went before us. The original intentions, purposes, and goals become a faded memory to one generation, and then complete unknowns to the next. Without traditions, we can quickly lose sight of why we do the things we do, why we fight for what we fight for, and why we love who we love.

Some would argue that traditions can become a meaningless, mindless, religious, routine. They might say something about how times change, and so should we. They may say that we have to adapt to the evolving world around us, but I am convinced that even in an ever-changing environment, it can help us evolve to maintain some constants. Maintaining traditions is about upholding honor for those that cleared the path for change to become possible!

I believe that when we honor a tradition even as common as a Thanksgiving meal, we honor each other. Our actions speak a message of love, and also give value to the purpose of the older generations.

As long as we can remember and honor previous generations, we will always have a solid foundation to build a new thing upon.

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