Cookie day and other traditions

My family engaged in a tradition this past weekend. We celebrated “cookie day.” It’s not on the calendar, of course, but it is an annual event nonetheless. My wife’s birthday is Dec. 18 and, a few years ago after the grandchildren started to arrive, she decided that, on or near her birthday, the family would have Cookie Day. That’s the only gift she wants from the kids — bring the grandchildren to Cookie Day.

Cookie Day works something like this: At a given time, the purchased cookie dough is removed from the fridge, the grandkids (we have nine now, eight of whom live locally) gather at the kitchen table, a cloth is spread, wax paper is put on the table cloth, flour is distributed and, for the next several hours cookies are cut, baked, iced, decorated, and eaten by the grandchildren, with the assistance of their parents and my wife (known as Granny in our tribe).

I serve as the family photographer to record the event. As soon as a kid is able to sit in a high chair and not choke on cookie dough, he or she becomes eligible to participate in Cookie Day. Of course the kitchen looks like a bakery exploded when all is finished, but my wife loves to do it and, as they say, “a happy wife makes for a happy life.”

There are those who find no value in traditions, or at least that’s way they say. If there are such people, they are in the minority in the earth. Prior to the advent of writing, life skills and tribal and ethnic history were passed on to succeeding generations by oral and ceremonial traditions.

My high school, Dobyns-Bennett, in Kingsport, Tenn., boasts of being the school with the most football wins in the state of Tennessee. A few years ago, the record stood at over 700 wins but everyone at the school was aware of the winning nature. Trophies and photos of All-State and All-High School American football players dating back to the 1920s graced the trophy and athletic areas. The tradition was strong and almost alive.

Even today, nearly 40 years after graduation, my favorite color combination is maroon and gray, the adrenaline flows when I hear the school song, and I will always be a Dobyns-Bennett Indian (politically incorrect though that may be).

Tradition. It links us to the past, grounds us in the present, and connects us with the future.

This coming Monday, Christmas Eve, my family will participate in another tradition. We will gather with other believers at church to sing the Christmas hymns, hear the Christmas story read, and kneel before the altar to receive Christmas Eve Communion.

The family will probably attend the 6 p.m. service so that the grandchildren can get to bed early to await Christmas morning.

I will go back to the church for the 9 p.m. service where we will add a “candlelight” aspect and, since most of the smaller children will have attended the earlier service, it will be a quieter, more adult-oriented time.

In my family, this tradition is only a decade or two old, although Christmas Eve Communion has been observed for centuries. It is a reminder, in this age of rushed and frantic consumerism, that it is, after all, about the One who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Perhaps, if you have no current church relationship or if your church doesn’t hold such a service, you could join us; start a tradition of your own maybe. In any event, my prayer and desire for you is that you have a blessed and a very merry Christmas. May God bless you and yours this season.