Tradition

Do you every get those days where someone says something, and you in that very moment get schooled? 

This happened to me about a week ago when someone was looking at something I wrote. As a passing comment they said: "you need to respect what others have done before you". In that very line, I had been found out. I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar so to speak and no where to turn too. They had seen something I had missed.  

It's true, I had not respected those who had gone before me. They had sacrificed, cried and engaged in ways that I could never imagine. I would not have what is in front of  me if it was not for the work of those before me. 

It got me thinking even more about tradition in the church. As a young person, I can often find myself not willing to engage with traditions I feel are redundant. In some cases tradition serves itself but at

other times it serves me. It serves as a reminder of all that went before me. For the influence they continue to have on my way of seeing the world today. 

Tradition can be something beautiful. It reminds me that I am not God, I am not alone, to be thankful for the past as well as the present and to build a tradition for the unknown others of the future.