Rituals Mark Our Days And Moments
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” -- John 7:37
The chapter was on rituals and how important they are to all of us. Jesus was a Jewish man. We forget that sometimes as we try to Americanize Him in our minds. We lose sight of the festivals, the prayers, the rituals of the Jewish faith that were part of the daily life of Jesus.
Do you have any rituals in your life? Perhaps you find comfort in saying The Lord’s Prayer in church. Maybe your family gets together every Sunday for lunch. And what about special occasions? How do you celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving? What about birthdays and other special moments?
I suppose every family is different. My grandmother was a stickler for celebrating her birthday on her birthday. Not the Sunday before or the Saturday after. Not on a date that was convenient for everybody else. But on her birthday. Or not at all.
I find myself laughing about it sometimes now. Maybe she had the right idea. Children are born when they are born, whether it is convenient or not. And so it is with birthdays. They arrive when they arrive, whether it is convenient or not.
A friend during my Texas years came from a close family with three girls and doting parents. Her sisters were her best friends, her parents trusted advisors. She saw them frequently and talked almost daily with them, and this in the day before unlimited calling.
Each birthday brought a cake filled with colorful sprinkles. It was made from a mix but that didn’t matter. The cake was festive and celebration was everything. I searched everywhere for that cake mix but finally had to add sprinkles to another cake batter. It tasted fine and it looked festive.
She missed her family but we celebrated with her. A cake. Balloons. A song. The marking of another year of possibilities and laughter.
We had no birthday rituals in my family. Birthdays were just another day, albeit one with gifts attached. Nothing big. Just something to say they remembered. In the early years there was a cake and then that kind of ended too. I remember one cake during my college years and another in Texas, a gift from my co-workers. Funny how those cakes stand out in my memory.
Today is my birthday, a day I both dread and anticipate. Another year of challenges has finally ended and for that I am grateful. I think back on that day when I fell to my knees in agony and Jesus pulled me close. I was thirsty for love and acceptance and He gave me both. That was a day of new birth and fresh starts. A day of celebration. A moment of salvation when everything changed forever. That is a birthday I celebrate every day.
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