Pressing On

“In great deed, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass, bodies disappear but spirits linger to consecrate ground for the vision place of the soul. And reverent men and women from afar and generations that know us not and that we know not of, shall come here to ponder and to dream and the power of the vision shall pass into their souls.”

- Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, 1828-1914, The Traveler’s Gift, by Andy Andrews

 

A text me / tweet me generation

“One generation will commend your works to another;

they will tell of your mighty acts.” (Psalm 145:4)

Texting from Jhaymesviphotography

I was caught by the magazine cover of the most recent edition of A Gathering Magazine, showing a teenaged girl holding her iPhone. Intrigued to learn that all the articles inside pertained to the theme of reaching the next generation, of communicating with teens in a way they will hear.

Bill Goodwin writes, “In America today there are 33 million teenagers, the largest group of teens since World War II. We have an important responsibility to pass the torch of faith to the next generation. But how do we do it?”

 

Not forgotten

As the firstborn of the firstborn of the firstborn, by tradition and duty, I am the keeper of the books. Genealogy books, records of births and deaths, mementos that had meaning to people generations ago, coin collections, Bibles the size of watermelon, and photos, photos, photos, photos. Why couldn’t my predecessors collect gold bars or something of value, rather than plastic cocktail skewers?

Every shoebox stashed in closets from decade to decade eventually lands with me. I have tried to live up to my store and stash responsibility, carefully identifying those I can in photos that go back centuries, and compartmentalizing everything in solid, element-proof plastic containers, labeled and ready for -  what?

 

Secret smiles and sparkles

Glue sticks. Where would I have stored glue sticks? Rarely used, in fact, I only pull them out this time of year to repair what’s been tossed together and is a little worse for the back and forth shoving in the closet beneath the stairs. Every December, I put a fresh spot of hot glue on the same Christmas village pieces, replacing a popped off hand, bent tree, or broken ski rope.

Laying my hands on the flat oblong Rubbermaid container, I pull it and the glue gun from the laundry room cupboard. Success! Yes, Virginia, there will be a repaired Christmas village.

I plug in the glue gun, and rummage through the little plastic box. I never use anything in this box other than the glue sticks, I think, maybe I should clean it out. Inside there’s low temperature and all-temp glue sticks, along with lovely gold ribbon, pin backs, magic hem, and an old prescription bottle. Huh?

I’m not the kind of person to re-use an empty pill bottle, No, I’d toss it, and run to the store to buy some similar item to store supplies in. So, what’s in there, and where did it come from? I wonder.

 

The ties that bind

It’s said that traditions are the ties that bind families together, that keep people more stable. Whether a big yearly tradition of choosing the Christmas tree together, or a smaller more frequent tradition of sharing the evening meal. These are the things that cement our relationships, and give us legs when our world trembles.

 

How will Santa find us?

We’d moved! Mom and Dad hadn’t let me send a letter in time to let him know our new address. How would Santa find us? Christmas would be ruined! Tough issues for a five-year old to face.

 

Tis the season

I was reading through the December issue of Success Magazine and came across this paragraph in the article, “Modern Family” by Beth Douglass Silcox:

“Whether it’s a holiday ritual, a celebratory rite of passage or even something simple like Saturday breakfasts out with Dad, traditions help bring families closer. At their best, they connect today with all our yesterdays and our tomorrows. They bring happiness, security, comfort, adventure, tolerance, and sometimes they save our sanity.”

The article quotes best-selling author and life coach Caroline Adams Miller, saying, “These rituals wind up being a thread from one generation to another.”

 

Bittersweet

Touchstones…they can be bittersweet sometimes, can’t they?

I have a box full of manila file folders filled with poems, stories, and lyrics, all written by my mother. The box holds children’s book manuscripts, an unpublished novel, paper plates with lyrics written on the back, snatches of paper napkins with beautifully turned phrases jotted on them as she rode in the passenger seat of the car.

These touchstones are bittersweet for me. They embody my mother’s creative and spiritual life, yet…

 

Will you be remembered?

Every morning I receive an inspirational quote or message from My Daily Insights. Recently one started with these words:

When the 2011 holiday season is over will you be remembered for the gifts you gave?

Will that bargain gift from the big box store be a life-changer OR will it find its way to a forgotten corner of a closet or storage unit somewhere?

An eye-stopper, a brain-tickler, for sure. We talk a lot about being remembered, about being significant, living lives of purpose, and creating lasting legacies.

But do our day to day actions reflect that? Can it be we get so caught up in the “Big Picture” that we lose sight of the smaller, more important details?

 

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