September 27, 2008: Confronting Tradition!

Back when I was an Episcopalian, I was a traditionalist.  Today, I am a traditionalist.  I may have adopted a different tradition than the one I was following a few decades ago, but I honor the tradition which I follow.

But there are those who are not comfortable with tradition, and especially with traditionalists.  To some, a traditionalist is some individual, too hide-bound to explore, secure in saying that what was good enough for his or her ancestors is good enough for them.  I suggest that a different approach might be more appropriate, and perhaps more common.

Learning about tradition is learning about where you and those who preceded you have been. 

Questioning tradition is a usually-healthy way of exploring the basis of a tradition and seeing how it fits in to your life today.  There are occasions, and I describe one, in which you might discover that the basis isn't really there.  And there are other cases in which the basis is really there, especially if you follow the tradition in the same heart as those who first established it.

And on the way, there can be learning and growth!

Blessed Be!