One thing, among several, that the readings had me thinking about was the daily rituals and the weekly, monthly and yearly rituals that focus my mind on different things. All of the Jewish celebrations were done to remind them of what mattered. I made a list of some rituals that help me focus on what matters...
Daily:
Personal connection to God - scriptures, prayer, journal
Family connection to God - work and serve one another, family devotional, scriptures, prayer, study, wholesome fun together
Community connection to God - studies for teaching at church and at Vanguard
Weekly:
Personal: temple, sacrament, sabbath day holy
Family: FHE, sabbath day holy, family research
Community: scouts, vanguard
Monthly:
Personal: fasting
Family
Community: testimony meeting, Visit teaching
Yearly holy-days that remind of me what matters most:
Christmas
Thanksgiving
Easter
I got thinking of how I might be able to make other holidays better reminders of what brings true joy... So, for example, we can we do something on Valentines Day to remind us of the pure love of Christ, New Years could celebrate the Atonement and that gift of new beginnings, St. Patrick's Day could be a celebration of the Godhead (what the clover originally symbolized) and we could do an activity that expresses our gratitude for their unique roles, the 4th of July could remind us of the covenants on this land, etc. even the holidays that are already centered on the Savior could have more meaningful rituals attached.
It seems like whenever people bring up the possibility of making holidays more meaningful - a lot of defenses go up. We like our traditions! And can't we just do something in the name of fun?! Well, yes, fun is a purpose - it helps us bond and love one another more. I guess the trick is to remember that holidays are not bad or good in and of themselves - they are simply tools towards at end. I think the danger comes when we get stuck on a tradition as an end in itself and forget to realize that it is actually a tool that may be leading us to an undesired end.
What are some of your favorite traditions that remind you of what matters?
Oh, I like your ideas of making other holidays more meaningful. I think it is very easy to just go along with what the world does for them, and not really consider it more deeply. Very nice. :)
ReplyDeleteToday in history, we talked a little bit about how Jewish life revolves around holidays, and that's something cool to think about, that holidays are meant to help us remember. Kind of like how we have General Conference in April and October (every six months), the two biggest holidays (Christmas and Easter) are separated too, so we can always remember Christ.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, we just talked about this in History on Thursday! :) I love Fiddler on the Roof! I think that there are a lot of holidays we can improve on (and I mean A LOT!) I think most of us have lost the real meanings to certain holidays!
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