%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 17 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 15 0 R /GS2 16 0 R /GS3 19 0 R /GS4 20 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250820130132+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250820130132+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1621 >> stream xWˎ6+nv PNH$] %ZbJYLnΥ\fJ*{}p$IhyGP"/7ҍHqO/lft_+*Ddo%Fx~|Uᆕ)( 6>~J_ܮ_\,N*jMU"lZ=~ (UvYɻUk<I&Ut ?3pcKE8Vh<46d,A4>4^CN+~+Mr {v5^ j)ǖ|hPαIZXh(D]4T.vgNJ; fT=/TnKYW3P$"9kAZOԙq1M*;SkM` ޫ1x*`4} D"J>Nk<=^v6C؎u L6K"ꃲvJ7vY6#'xK~YVYkOTk[OrxF4jH{(ޯ{{9jhbZlXh/Q^z%"_FbN+Y' z1aTU,rvV;?HG*4 %[#Y8'K~Q=a \QwaY,bEΝ!1 qi&wH-@9SZ)X;΋(n,& *OP+X$Ux ijo,\vqo7r~j-cDI(;:"SZT{G= ȁBa !hqAո }G6XY6tRvnQ V5P<8{d9b| ഈJ$ϷBCf݂[+^96wp*1~Uh"dwt4A6ShnQ@h_:{ebdP7yLHYn@r5; PQuZjdQZYTͫ3 G I71a].aÔ4 :=:yc8̇X*fY)<&G`ll(֛.q=2 iNmz^.n*{mWCM&&1PrOmF h(0BX4xYǺYgDe0IF2{iυ$8L]GW| G;cg QDz /.ګodfg G/All{a2+RZC|&y4!2P{'[zӚA"~RؿrH-ypB^`^W-7/2z5WiۤW\l7CHu|n>ŹK) O|gWR t} endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 16 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 18 0 R >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 539 >> stream xn0w?7@B%[] 4HRPT[Ёh %*ٮ]=يA:P}ȻY(boW>刓"V"Z߅# OZA;C%RG ö TK=yljqϛe[2[[Yty-g_n+Cg4J'p:'jB}aFwҠQˊ7vG(lÞCU[<4g!*WDJdASˎ,!GFz%w[VVlM;hH"Ֆ%FvNy촢3IowS> endobj 20 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj xref 0 21 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000401 00000 n 0000000430 00000 n 0000000579 00000 n 0000000682 00000 n 0000002376 00000 n 0000002483 00000 n 0000002591 00000 n 0000002701 00000 n 0000002814 00000 n 0000002930 00000 n 0000002959 00000 n 0000003069 00000 n 0000003128 00000 n 0000003187 00000 n 0000003292 00000 n 0000003904 00000 n 0000003961 00000 n trailer << /Size 21 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 4018 %%EOF Traditions | Caring Magazine
Read Caring Magazine Volume 29

Vol. #29

Hope in Action

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

Traditions

December 12, 2008
2 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

Remembering the message of peace

by Della Rees, Lt. Colonel –

Traditions—they are an essential part of what holds society together. Often the reasons for societal traditions are forgotten. They become an automatic exercise. But traditions can disappear because they no longer fit present circumstances. For instance, traditions begin fade when close family ties are no longer available.

No longer does my family gather to open gifts on Christmas Eve. The aromas of roasting turkey and other delectable dishes departed when Mother, approaching age 90, retired from the holiday kitchen. Her daughter preferred going to someone else’s home, frozen pie in hand. Personally, band and songster caroling has been replaced by the noisy clatter of a coin counter at kettle headquarters.

Many Salvationists adopted some ethnic traditions, such as the observance of the Santa Lucia Festival before Christmas and Julgran Plundering after Christmas where the tree was taken down with singing and treats—even if they were not Scandinavian! As time has elapsed, and we are further away from the old practices, these have often faded away

Yet one childhood tradition and one from adulthood represent Christmas to me. A memory from pre-school days is of a small cardboard nativity scene—no fancy European ceramic figures for us. It appeared each December and then returned to the storage box.

That remembrance eventually inspired me to collect a few small nativity scenes. The first one was made in Hawaii with a coconut shell stable. The few became almost 200, including—yes—a set of large European ceramic figures. I added a lighted scene in my window as a reminder to neighbors of the real Christmas message. Some items stay out during the year so that I am constantly reminded of that message.

The adulthood tradition? It is one that exists between God and myself. Each year at Thanksgiving I pray that I might discover some special message about Christ’s coming. The first time I asked that, I soon witnessed a Christmas tableau of the Holy Family and attendant figures quietly and beautifully staged. The simplicity of the message of peace, wrapped in swaddling clothes—not layers of philosophy and theology—stirred my heart. Message received.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like