:Poppy:

My name is Sam, and the older I get, the more important remembrance seems to be.

It's an interesting thing to watch in your own life-- you're young, and you want nothing to do with the traditions and stale routines of the older generations...you have a hard time understanding their importance and value, and find little joy and comfort in spending time focused on things that happened in the past, or "the way we used to do it". Everything is new, and fresh, and exciting, and if it's never been done before, even better!

But then you begin to realize that...wait... It really has all been done before. And these traditions and routines hold value... And there's a reason we keep ourselves rooted and grounded in where we have been...because it helps us to keep a handle on who we are now and where we are headed in the future.

Take the old hymns in church; I used to get sick of them. I know, it's something akin to sacrilege to say so, but it's true. I remember sitting in church ahead of the service, looking up each of the songs in the hymnal, to see how long they were, hoping against hope that the pastor and the worship director had picked short songs (or at least only the first, third, and fith verses!). I remember being excited when the doxology was the threefold amen, rather than the sevenfold. And I remember wondering if the services were ever going to end, especially on years where Christmas landed in such a way that we were in church for Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the Sunday (morning and evening) services all in the same three days, back to back to back. It was too much for a little guy to take (or at least, I seemed to think so at the time)!

Now, I know, can see, and have experienced the richness of the rooted-ness that comes from knowing that you are singing songs that have been sung throughout the generations of faith. Songs that tell the story of our beliefs and theology in a completely unique way. Songs that bring out he themes of sin, redemption, salvation, revelation, and so much more in a powerful, and often timeless, way. Does it mean that I don't subscribe to the newer songs and traditions within the church? Absolutely not! But there is a richness to be found in the combination of the old and the new-- the new song alongside the timeless classic-- that cannot be fully expressed in words. There is a comfort, too, connected to the fact that these songs are our history, the legacy of those who have gone before us in the faith. Through them, we can feel a connection with people long gone; without these songs, we might find very little in common with them at all. There is a deep sense of belonging to be found in many traditions we so easily dismiss.

Or take the picture above: Remembrance Day. As a kid, I thought the poppies were cool. I wanted one because everyone else had one. Not because I understood. Then, we moved away to the US for about eight years. Coming back to Canada, I felt a strange nostalgia and connection to this simple action of pinning a poppy on my lapel each November. I began to think about the reason we do this in Canada; to remember those who gave their lives in the service of our freedom. And it's become a simple, yet profound way for me to express the pride I take in the country I am from, and the thankfulness I have for the freedoms that I all-too-often am guilty of taking for granted...freedoms that we didn't always have.

So it's made me think: maybe that's the secret...the connection. These things; these traditions, memorials, routines, whatever, become important when we begin to understand the meaning behind them. When they take on a personal meaning because of experience, or simply being able to grasp and understand the depth of the tradition in a more concrete way. See, without meaning, traditions are just that-- things we do because we've always done them. But once you connect meaning to them, they become personal. They become important. The become...well...meaningful.

In the past few years, especially since getting married and having kids, I've begun to realize that tradition is a beautiful thing. Sure, there are traditions that are pointless, and some that I'll never adopt in my own life. But there is a richness of heritage, history, and faith in my ancestry, and in some of these things, I can find a grounded-ness and rooting that I'd be hard-pressed to find in many other places. So I make some of these things a part of my life, and a part of the life of my family...

...Lest we forget.

Because, in the end, if we forget who we are, and where we've come from (in any area of life whatsoever), doesn't it leave us stranded somewhere, disconnected? Aren't we doomed to repeat history's mistakes? To think that we've got it figured out, because, after all, we're the only ones we are comparing ourselves to?

I don't know about anyone else...but I, for one, like to remember. To be connected. To look back and learn. And to celebrate where I've come from, as I continue to head where I'm going.

My name is Sam, and the older I get, the more important remembrance seems to be.