Telling Stories...

Ever since our ancestors could first communicate, we have gathered to share our stories. We have passed along stories illustrating our faith and the tragic stories of love lost. We have repeated accounts of real heroism and simple stories of family history. When our forebears lived closer to the land and to each other, the practice of storytelling was full of ritual and was seen as a special occasion. Members of the family group would often gather around the fire to hear their genealogy recited aloud by an elder or master storyteller. Listeners could track their own lives, and the lives of their parents, as they interwove with the lives of the other members of the extended family. It would often seem that everyone’s ancient relatives once played out similar life dramas together.

As a custom, some cultures’ storytellers repeat the same tale over and over because they believe that each time you hear it, you come to the story as a different person and view it in a new light. Telling the stories again and again helped younger generations learn so that they could pass them to future generations.

When we hear others tell stories, we can laugh at their humorous adventures, feel the thrill of exciting encounters, and learn from the challenges they faced. Though most of our formal traditions of storytelling are lost, it does not mean we they cannot be revived.

These traditions draw us closer together through our shared ancestors and histories. Perhaps we can see some of their strengths in ourselves and in those closest to us. In choosing to honor this practice we connect to our shared human experience and see, once again, God's hand in all we do and who we are...

 


 

Wednesday

Wednesday has always been a busy day in our house...something about middle of the week, and all that entails established a long held tradition...Spaghetti Wednesday.! Or as everyone would mention as they walked in the door, "I smell spaghetti, it must be Wednesday".

It's funny how traditions get started. This came about because it could be made quickly and easily...and kept warm if needs be. With Dad preparing it more often than not. But it also means something else...home. Although some might tire of eating the same food on the same day of the week most weeks of the year, there is something comforting about it.

No matter what type of day each of us has had, no matter what problems we carry back to our door, no matter what is happening in our community or the world at large, Spaghetti on Wednesday tells us that all is right with our world. We're safe, we're together, we're a family (no matter who happens to sit down with us).

I'm rather looking forward to getting home this evening!

Christmas traditions

Last Sunday we sang "O come, O come, Emmanuel" during morning worship. While it is one of my favorite Advent hymns, I was surprised to notice how old it really is...according to the UM Hymnal, it has been translated from 9th Century Latin. Finding the history adds another layer to our Advent celebrations...realizing that there have been Christians singing this hymn for over 1,000 years. I find comfort in such things.

Imagine then how I felt when I ran across the "First Christmas sermon" which was delivered in 386 AD (1,600 years ago!!). It was written and preached by St. John Chrysostom. It is both relevant and beautiful...spend some time with it (after all, it's still the Christmas season)...

BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery. My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.  The Angels sing.  The Archangels blend their voice in harmony.  The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise.  The Seraphim exalt His glory.  All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven.  He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice.  And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields.  For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God.  This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not.  For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His.  Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit of too curious scrutiny.  Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech.  For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.

What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come to this light by birth.  The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.

Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace!  The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body, that is visible and liable to corruption.  For what reason?  That coming amongst us he may teach us, and teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see.  For since men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.

Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed, formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness of our nature’.  For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made.  Let that handiwork be forever glorified, which became the cloak of its own Creator.  For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker.

What shall I say!  And how shall I describe this Birth to you?  For this wonder fills me with astonishment.  The Ancient of days has become an infant.  He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger.  And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies subject to the hands of men.  He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants bands.  But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total humiliation the measure of His Goodness.

For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life.  He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me.

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity.  For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been ‘in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech with angels.

Why is this?  Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He became Flesh.  He did not become God.  He was God.  Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things arc nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother.  So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him.  Since this day the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star.

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever.  Amen.

I grew up in an era that thought "old" things were just that...old. There was no reason to spend time looking back. Everything great and good would be in the future. Oh how wrong!

Pretzels

 

Who knew that pretzels came into being because of the Lenten Fasting Laws in Catholic Church!

 If you take a moment to look at the typical twist pretzel, you can see that it is a model of the common prayer position from the early 600s of folding your arms over each other on your chest and putting your hands on your shoulders.
Pretzels were developed as an option to satisfy abstinence and fasting laws of the time. Eggs, fat, and milk were forbidden during Lent. So, the remaining ingredients that one could use included water, flour, and salt. A young monk baked the first pretzel — making a Lenten bread of water, flour, and salt, forming the dough into the prayer position of the day, and baking it as soft bread. These first pretzels would have been much like the soft pretzels we have today.
Greg Dues, in his book Catholic Customs and Traditions, explains more of the pretzel history:

“These little breads were shaped in the form of arms crossed in prayer and were called bracellae (Latin, ‘little arms’). Among the Germans the word became ‘bretzel’. These pretzels were a common Lenten food throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, and became an all year round snack, in its original shape only in the last (19th) century.”

The suggestion of arms crossed in the form of prayer may have led to pretzels being given as a reward to young children when they could recite their prayers. Pretiola means little reward, which could also be a derivative of the term pretzel. The three holes in a pretzel are also said to represent the Holy Trinity.

Read the rest of the story at Busted Halo

All Souls

Today is "All Souls Day" in the Catholic tradition. Although United Methodists do not recognize this celebration, that does not mean it is not interesting and worthy of thought:

   There is a Mexican saying that we die three deaths: the first when our bodies die, the second when our bodies are lowered into the earth out of sight, and the third when our loved ones forget us. Catholics forestall that last death by seeing the faithful dead as members of the Church, alive in Christ, and by praying for them -- and asking their prayers for us -- always. Cardinal Wiseman wrote in his Lecture XI:

Sweet is the consolation of the dying man, who, conscious of imperfection, believes that there are others to make intercession for him, when his own time for merit has expired; soothing to the afflicted survivors the thought that they possess powerful means of relieving their friend. In the first moments of grief, this sentiment will often overpower religious prejudice, cast down the unbeliever on his knees beside the remains of his friend and snatch from him an unconscious prayer for rest; it is an impulse of nature which for the moment, aided by the analogies of revealed truth, seizes at once upon this consoling belief. But it is only a flitting and melancholy light, while the Catholic feeling, cheering though with solemn dimness, resembles the unfailing lamp, which the piety of the ancients is said to have hung before the sepulchers of their dead.

Customs

It is practically universal folk belief that the souls in Purgatory are allowed to return to earth on All Souls Day. In Austria, they are said to wander the forests, praying for release. In Poland, they are said to visit their parish churches at midnight, where a light can be seen because of their presence. Afterward, they visit their families, and to make them welcome, a door or window is left open. In many places, a place is set for the dead at supper, or food is otherwise left out for them. In any case, throughout the Octave of All Saints, our beloved dead should be remembered, commemorated, and prayed for.

During our visits to their graves, we spruce up their resting sites, sprinkling them with holy water, leaving votive candles, and adorning them flowers (especially chrysanthemums and marigolds) to symbolize the Eden-like paradise that man was created to enjoy, and may, if saved, enjoy after death and any needed purgation.

Today is a good day to not only remember the dead spiritually, but to tell your children about their ancestors. Bring out those old photo albums and family trees! Write down your family's stories for your children and grandchildren! Impress upon them the importance of their ancestors! 

Does money grow on trees?

If you were to look at the pictures below, you might be inclined to answer yes!

But come to find out, these are considered "Wishing Trees" and people have been driving coins into them for centuries now...kind of like tossing a coin in a fountain...

Daily Mail has the full story

Also,
One form of votive offering is the token offering of a coin. One such tree still stands near Ardmaddy House in Argyll, Scotland, a hawthorn, which is a species traditionally linked with fertility. The trunk and branches are covered with hundreds of coins which have been driven through the bark and into the wood. The local tradition is that a wish will be granted for each of the coins so treated.[1]

In the glen of the Aira Beck near Aira Force is a wish tree formed from a large fallen tree trunk into which the many visitors hammer coins using stones from nearby.

On Isle Maree in Loch Maree, Gairloch, in the Highlands is an oak wish tree made famous by a visit in 1877 by Queen Victoria mentioned in her published diaries. The tree, and others surrounding it, are festooned with hammered-in coins. It is near the healing well of St. Maree, to which votive offerings were made, including the sacrifice of bulls, which continued up to the 18th century, according to records.[2]

Near Mountrath, County Laois, is a shapeless old wish tree in the form of a sycamore tree called St. Fintan's Well. The original well was filled in, but the water re-appeared in the centre of the tree. Hundreds of Irish pennies have been beaten into the bark as good luck offerings.[3]

The High Force Waterfall has a coin wish tree in the grounds of the waterfall.

Decoration

Tomorrow we meet at a little country church a few miles away from home for Decoration! This generally always happens on the 4th Saturday of August and is a uniquely Southern tradition (I think!). We gather around 11am, place flowers on the graves of our loved ones and then EAT!!!! Each family or group brings enough to feed their crew, it's placed on a long wooden table and once we hear the blessing, we chow down. Oh and just because you brought food for your group doesn't mean you can't wander around and help yourself to what others have brought...believe me, they'll do the same to yours!

This tradition doesn't usually happen at "Perpetual Care" cemetery's...it's mainly the little country ones with very little oversight and so it's kind of left up to the families to make sure that the grass is cut and the stones are clean.

The eating part may sound morbid to some but really, it's great! We visit with other families that we may not see but one time a year and after all, we'll be lying next to one another some day, why not share time while we're living and breathing? My husband and all his brothers and sisters grew up honoring this tradition, my children have done the same.

As each generation travels out into the great big world, on the 4th Saturday of August, no matter where they are, they know what's happening here and it's comforting. The family will gather and remember those who have gone on before and rest in the knowledge that someday we will all be reunited in God's great kingdom!

Now, when are they going to ask the blessing? I'm starved!