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Tradition. What will you hand on?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
The word tradition means to hand on, or to hand over. And this “handing over” is an important aspect of the spiritual life. Moses warns the people to “hand over” to their children and their children’s children the religious truths they have learned. What is it we feel compelled to hand on?
This is a complex question, the question of what values and truths we share with the next generation. Consider how fast things are changing. Hardly a day goes by without there being some new amazing piece of technology being announced. It seems moral questions about what we should and should not do seem to be arising more and more often.
And so the answers to the big questions can get lost just in trying to live the day to day. Life is hard. Life is busy. We might have a whole host of legitimate concerns that take us away from even thinking about what it is we should pass on to our children and grandchildren.
What Moses suggests to the people is not to forget the law they have learned, and the experiences of God they have had. Not bad advice. Open your heart to learn more about your faith, and seek Jesus to grow into deeper and deeper experiences of his love for you.
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