The (Ri)Charmed Life: tradition

Showing posts with label tradition. Show all posts

St. Patrick's Day... and all

(Whenever I don't post for a long time, I feel the need to apologize for my absence. So sorry, all two of you who read. =p)

It's St. Patrick's Day! We'll all wear green, but what we really get happy about today is it's my dad's birthday. Wish he was here to celebrate it with us. (No, he's not departed, he just lives on the other side of the world.)

Some other random green musings:

I made a fun treasury for my Etsy team. Click on this link to view it.
There will be no green beer for us today. I'm watching my sugar and my awesome hubs shared a shamrock shake with me yesterday, so I'm trying to recalibrate things today. Not to mention, green beer is just gross.
I'm a big fan of Marvillosa Jewelry and this is my favorite piece in that shop right now. It's not Irish, but I'm more into the Scot thing anyway.

St. Patrick’s Day is observed on March 17 because that is the feast day of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17 in the year 461 AD.
Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

And that's all I got. Hope it's a good day and you don't get pinched or leprechauned on.

posted under beer, birthday, dad, etsy, green, marvillosa jewelry, Scottish, shamrock shake, St. Patrick's Day, Tampa Bay Etsy Crew, TBEC, tradition, treasury, trivia | 3 Comments

Christmas Musing

It's the day after Christmas. There's still gift bags and tissue paper piled high on the loveseat. The coffee table is full of Christmas bounty. Jason's back to work. Julian is crawling around the house in his new sleeping bag pretending to be a worm. Jane is sleeping off a crazy jam session in her fancy exersaucer. I'm feeling the usual mixed emotions that come with the holidays. This week between Christmas and New Years is always kind of long and strange, especially with school being out.

We spent Christmas day with my in laws. I'm so lucky to get along with them well. My mother in law made it a relaxed, delicious, beautiful time. We've established a tradition. We open presents at our home and then head over there for breakfast and time with all the family. At some point presents are opened. By noon, everyone heads back to their houses for a Christmas nap. We don't have other family in town so we go back for a nice holiday dinner. There's usually a non-related guest or two that joins us. It's a nice day.

I do miss my family though. My parents are overseas. My brother is in California and my sister and her family live in Texas. We try to talk, or at least text, Christmas day, but I think that only makes us miss each other more! For me, there's always a little undercurrent that something is missing during the holiday season and I know it's being with my family. Hopefully we'll all be able to celebrate together in 2015.

I also went into this Christmas thinking that there would not be many presents under the tree. We've had medical bills to pay off, stuff with the cars, and just a lot of financial drama this year. Jane is pretty small so I wasn't worried about her being disappointed, but Julian has had some major Christmas hauls in past years. I also love finding perfect gifts for friends and family members so, by my own choice, I normally have quite a few people to shop for. This year, we had to seriously slim down the list. We mostly just bought for our kids, nieces & nephews and our parents.

Much to my surprise (and gratitude!), we were flooded with gifts from family and friends. The grandparents got the kids' big items: a bike for Julian and a deluxe exersaucer for Jane. I'm pretty sure neither of the children minded that some their gifts from us were not entirely new. Julian even said that this was the best Christmas ever. We all loved hearing that!

Of course, as much as family means and as fun as all the gifting is, the real meaning of Christmas also brings me mixed emotions. I can't express enough thankfulness that I don't have to earn God's acceptance. Jesus made that possible, so celebrating His birth is the highlight of my year. This holiday and the whole Jesus story is about love, forgiveness, acceptance, peace... and it makes me very sad that those are not words that are associated with Christians in general any more. That's another blog post entirely though!

posted under bike, christian, Christmas, day after, family, friends, gratitude, Jane, Jesus, Julian, nostalgia, presents, sadness, tradition | 2 Comments

Easter Sunday

from Sunday, April 8, 2012~

Happy Easter! We spent the morning at church, the afternoon and evening with family. Julian got three Easter baskets and spent hours in the pool so he's pretty into that side of Easter. On the spiritual side of things, our object lesson was well received.

So this is the last day that I'll be talking about the Easter celebration. It's the culmination of the story, the week, the everything. Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus the third day after the crucifixion.* Our church does two services. The only difference between the two is the music: the earlier service is hymns, the later, more modern songs. We do read scripture and do responsive readings. The sermon focus is always related to the resurrection of Christ. Between the services we do a casual, brunch style breakfast. The rest of the day is spent with loved ones.

*Here's a summary of what we believe happened using Matthew 28:1-20; Mark 16:1-20; Luke 24:1-49; John 20:1-21:25. Following the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea had Christ's body placed in his own tomb. A large stone covered the entrance and soldiers guarded the sealed tomb. On the third day, after the Sabbath was over, several women who were followers of Jesus went to the tomb at dawn to anoint the body of Jesus according to Jewish traditions of the time. Now sometime the night before or early that morning a violent earthquake took place as an angel rolled back the stone. The guards were paralyzed with fear, but when they recovered, they ran away. The angel announced to the women that Jesus who was crucified was no longer in the grave and said to them, "He is risen, just as He said." Then he instructed the women to inspect the tomb and see for themselves. He then told them to go inform the disciples.

As they were running to obey the angel's command, suddenly Jesus himself met them on their way. They fell at his feet and worshiped him. Jesus then said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me." When the guards reported what had happened to the chief priests, they bribed the soldiers with a large sum of money, telling them to lie and say that the disciples had stolen the body in the night.

posted under angel, celebration, disciples, Easter, resurrection, risen, scripture, Sunday, tradition | 0 Comments

Food Day

from Saturday, April 6, 2012~

Love having a freezer full of quick meals!

Had a great afternoon at Dinner Done with some friends today. It's the meal prep place that I happen to prefer. The only real drawback to places like this is that it's not cheap. For a family our size, we split the entrees so that makes it much more affordable. Tonight we had one of the entrees I made. It was steak stuffed with sun-dried tomato and spinach and then topped with adobo seasoning and feta cheese. Soooo yummy!

Easter Christian Traditions, continued... Today there aren't many traditions that all Christians do for Easter. It is known as Bright Saturday. A lot of churches do egg hunts, but this has no biblical basis. Often the egg is used to illustrate the 3 in 1 nature of the Trinity. Some more conservative groups oppose the practice as it is rooted in paganism. Some Catholic churches follow the Byzantine Rites for this day.

posted under catholic, christian, church, Dinner Done, Easter, eggs, food, freezer, hunt, meals, pagan, preparation, recipes, Saturday, steak, tradition | 0 Comments

Good Friday

from Friday, April 6, 2012~

Yesterday was Good Friday. The commemoration of the day and event has been widespread since at least the 4th century (documented by Egeria). What is being commemorated is basically what happened to Jesus once the Jewish leaders turned Him over to the Romans as a troublemaker.* This is recorded in all 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John- click on the book to read the account).

Within each Christian sect these events* are celebrated differently. The Catholic church observes the most elaborately. In that group, Good Friday worship services often begin in the afternoon at 3:00 pm (traditionally the time that Jesus may have died). That can consists of the singing (or preaching) of the Passion of St. John's gospel. The Veneration of the Cross is also common. This is when Christians approach a wooden cross (or crucifix) and kneel before it and/or kiss part of it. In addition to these traditions, Holy Communion is practiced. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic church, no masses are said on Good Friday. Good Friday is an official fast day (no food) of the Catholic Church. Many churches (both Catholic and Protestant) also offer the Stations of the Cross.

My church holds an afternoon service. Within that service we sing songs having to do with the crucifixion. Then we read the Biblical account of the crucifixion. Sometimes there is a short sermon. After that we spend some time in quiet reflection before partaking in communion. We end the service in song. Families are encouraged to do object lessons together. A popular one is always resurrection cookies. (Recipe & instructions found here.) We made a tomb and hill diorama then we did a simple (age appropriate) explanation of the event and then sealed a Jesus figure in the tomb. When we open it Sunday morning, the figure will be gone. (Instructions here.) In the past we've done a stations of the cross sort of thing, but it's been a few years.

Wikipedia actually has a pretty detailed Good Friday account posted with lots of scripture and even more detail about customs all around the world.

*I don't want to be overly graphic, but I think we all are aware of the brutality of the Roman Empire. I've included links if you want more detail. The first thing the Romans did was to strip Jesus naked and flog Him with a whip containing metal components, razor-sharp bones or hooks and lead balls. Flogging sometimes killed, but it always severely weakened the victim. The soldiers then commenced with the psychological torture: throwing a scarlet robe across His shoulders, making Him hold a scepter, and pressing a sharp thorn crown deep into His scalp. They screamed at and made fun of Him, they took the scepter out of His hand, and repeatedly struck Him on the head. Jesus then was in critical condition. A heavy wooden beam was thrust upon Christ’s battered body and He was led away to a place called Golgotha to be crucified.There Jesus was literally nailed to a wooden cross. Historically Romans used thick iron spikes driven through the wrists and ankles. The body would hang from the nails in a way that breathing became difficult as the person would have to push their body upward to grasp small gulps of air. The Roman system of crucifixion was intended to inflict maximum pain. Jesus would have experienced cycles of joint-wrenching cramps, intermittent asphyxiation, and excruciating pain as His lacerated back moved up and down against the rough timber of the cross. (In fact, the word excruciating (literally “out of the cross”) had to be invented to fully capture its horror.) As Jesus felt the end approaching, He was said to cry out, “‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?–––which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””† and then gave up His spirit. There was darkness and an earthquake large enough to break open sealed tombs. A follower of Jesus asked the Roman rulers to bury Jesus body. A short time later, a Roman legionnaire drove his spear through Jesus' ribs and into his heart to make sure He is dead. Jesus body is then taken and wrapped in a linen shroud and treated according to Jewish traditions and left in a sealed and guarded tomb.

†This is significant to the Christian because we believe that Jesus lived a perfect life but then allowed Himself this death to pay for all the wrongdoing of humanity. We believe God is just and holy and so He cannot tolerate evil and rebellion. When Jesus took on the sins of the world, God had to turn His back on Him.

posted under cross, crucifixion, death, Easter, Good Friday, Jesus, recipe, tradition | 0 Comments

Maundy Thursday

Thursday, April 5, 2012~

It's crazy to me that I have to plan my calendar a month in advance. I can only imagine how crazy it will be when Julian is in school! I am excited to start inviting people to my next jewelry party. (Click on the photo for details!)

So today is Maundy Thursday. I didn't grow up really acknowledging the day much so I had to do a little research about it. There is no historical account outside of the Bible of the events of this evening so I will just mention the traditions that are commonly held. Maundy Thursday commemorates the last Passover supper Jesus shared with his disciples on the night before He was crucified. Some churches hold quiet candlelight services. These services can observe any or all of these 3 traditions: foot washing*, communion**, a traditional Passover Seder meal***.

*Before the Passover supper, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. By performing this lowly act of service, the Bible says in John 13:1 that Jesus "showed them the full extent of his love." By his example, Jesus demonstrated how Christians are to love one another through humble service.

**During the meal, Jesus took bread and wind and asked His Father to bless it. He broke the bread into pieces, giving it to his disciples and said, "This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." Then he took the cup of wine, shared it with his disciples and said, "This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you--an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you." These events are recorded in Luke 22:19-20 and are the Biblical basis for the practice of communion. For this reason, many churches hold special Communion services as a part of their Maundy Thursday celebrations.

*** Some congregations observe a traditional Passover Seder meal according to tradition. For more information about the Seder meal, go to this link.

posted under Bible, candlelight, church, communion, foot washing, Jesus, Last Supper, Maundy Thursday, party, Passover, Richarme, service, tradition | 1 Comments