As I reflect upon family rituals and the significance they have played in my life, I realize how certain rituals have granted me a sense of family identity, the joy of shared memories and a desire to pass these same rituals, as well as establish new ones, for my future family.
For me, various seasons and holiday’s are marked with special traditions such as sleeping under the Christmas tree on Christmas eve, pressing our own apple cider during harvest season, or eating the exact same courses during our Thanksgiving meal. Each of these traditions, and many more, have become extremely dear to me and are events that I look forward to every year. The nuance of performing these same rituals year after year has never worn out but still provides me with the excitement and wonder of a small child.
Asides form the excitement many family traditions create, they also play a significant role in bringing family together to enjoy quality time and quality interactions. More often than not, life is so busy that unless we are intentional about creating such special moments together with friends and family, the moments may never happen. One such event that I look forward to every year is when my brother, sister and I get together during the Christmas season to make our decadent gingerbread houses that covered with colorful candies of all types. Even though my sister and I are in university and my brother has already graduated from college, this tradition has never gotten old and marks some of our favorite memories together. It provides the opportunity to reminisce on childhood memories and share some of our thoughts and feelings in ways that other occasions don’t allow.
Another important element that family traditions establish is the unique sense of family identity and belonging through shared experiences. One of the important rituals my family passed on to me was the weekly practice of attending church together. Worshipping together was an intricate part of belonging and spending time together as a family. Also, going on a number of trips to various places around the world was defines in many ways my families identity. My parents always remind me that every person choices the priorities in their life and how they spend their money. In my family, it was more important to travel and go on family adventures together than to drive the newest vehicles. Finally, my parents have demonstrated the importance of taking the time and initiative to visit and spend time with family. This school year alone, my parents have taken time out of their hectic schedules to travel all the way from Washington State to visit Ariana, Filip and I here at Andrews University. Again, this is owing to the fact that in my family taking the initiative to spend time with each other takes precedence over other ways of spending time and money.
Appreciating the ways in which my family traditions have blessed and shaped me into the individual I am today, I’m challenged to establish new traditions as well as pass along old ones to my new family and future children one day. Since getting married, Filip and I often enjoy conversations of our plans to incorporate family rituals into our lives now as well as establish new ones for our children in the future. Some of our plans include continuing to live without a television in our home. Instead we want to make more time to enjoy reading, cooking, and doing many arts and crafts in our home. We also want to make a point of celebrating the every Sabbath with a delicious meal and time spent together as a family in nature. This is very important even now for Filip as we spend most of our time during the week either studying, working or attending class. Another important tradition we instill in our family is the desire and commitment to spend as much time as possible with family. This includes traveling during the holidays as well as having special family night every week where we order pizza and watch a movie together or play a fun game. With regards to some of special holiday traditions such as sleeping under the Christmas tree, I also want my children to experience many of the joys I did as a child. I don’t want them to miss out on the wonderful memories that come from such special family rituals and traditions.
On a bit of a different note, when I reflect upon the role traditions have played in not only our culture but in the biblical cultures of past I’m struck by the push of modern Christian culture to minimize the importance of many holidays. Understandlable, this is often owing to societies’ secularization of festive occasions like Thanksgiving becoming “Turkey Day,” or Christmas- the day of Christ’s birth, becoming the day Santa visits the homes of good boys and girls to deliver presents. Nonetheless, as I reflect upon early Jewish culture as recorded in scripture, its evident how enriched the Jewish culture was with festivals and celebrations. Every year, whether it be harvest or Yum Kippur, the Jews created traditions of both remembering victories of the past and celebrating the blessings of life in the present.
Therefore, I’m of the opinion that instead of abstaining or downplaying the spirit of celebration, I believe Christians should be more festive and joyous than anyone else. It would seem more in line with how God originally intended His people to live. Though some may take issue with train of logic, it is my desire to maintain and develop as many ways as possible to create special occasion and opportunities to celebrate together. Once again, this is owing my belief that family traditions play a significant role in granting the sense of family identity and the joy of shared memories.
