Not a Tree Safe Around Here
My husband and I rode down several side streets commenting on how much the landscape has changed since the storms. Lush, wooded lots are gone. Beautiful neighborhoods known for their magnificent canopies are lacking. And houses once framed in branches stand lonely on barren lots. There are blue tarps on homes in every neighborhood, down every street. First Idalia, then Helene. I wonder how many toddlers will have the misconception that all houses must have blue patches on them.
After the initial clean-up, now unnecessary tree removal has begun. Giant pines and oaks that survived the storm are now being cut down. Even my husband, who loves all the hickories and red oaks around our house has jumped on the tree chopping wagon. But why?
Those two hurricanes wreaked havoc in our rural community. Trees through houses, barns, cars, and silos. Ruined yards, fences, play yards, and driveways. While the coastal communities received water and wind damage, our biggest enemy was the trees.
Learned Behavior Becomes Tradition
I wonder what yards will look like in fifty years. Will having treeless yards become a trend? A supposed have-to? Will people do what their parents and grandparents did just because that’s what they saw and knew and never question why houses have no shade or beauty around them from the trees?
A friend shared a story with me about eating biscuits. As a kid, she watched her mom and grandma cut the bottoms off the biscuits before they ate them. She never questioned the process, it’s just what her family did. As an adult, she did the same thing every time she ate a biscuit.
Finally, a person outside her family asked her why she cut the bottom off a perfectly good biscuit. She had no answer. She went to her mother who went to her mother. The grandma laughed and told them that she was known for burning her biscuits and hated eating the charred bottom, so she cut it off instead of wasting the whole biscuit. My friend thought it was a have-to because that’s what she’d always seen and done, when in reality, it was a quick fix for burnt biscuits.
Tradition
I grew up in a traditional church with deep roots in our small community. While we did many things right, we were still a church steeped in tradition. Being raised in the laps of older folks and having my daddy as a leader in the church, I was privy to many conversations that weren’t young-ear approved. So many times, I heard this phrase, “That’s how we’ve always done it.”
Traditions are nice at times, especially family or holiday practices that are cherished, loved, and revered. But what happens when the reason behind the tradition is lost? Guilt, requirement, obligation, and bitterness enter the picture causing a once intentional action to become a rote, meaningless chore. T.D. Jakes said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always be where you’ve always been.”
In Beth Moore’s Philippians Bible study, she shared about a mama dog who didn’t have back legs and learned how to walk on the two front ones. The puppies in her first litter were born with four legs, but how did they learn to walk? Just like their mother. They didn’t know there was another way.
Examining the Whys
At some point we have to ask why something is the way it is. We need to examine methods, motives, and reasons. How did the tradition begin? Why did it start? Who was the originator? What was their goal?
Recently I was asked if I planned to attend a certain event. I had other plans that day, but even if I wasn’t committed elsewhere, I had no intention of going. If I went, I would be going out of a false sense of requirement, demand, and guilt. I was not genuinely happy or excited and the only reason to go would be to please someone else.
It’s important to know these things about ourselves. Why do we do certain activities? What is the purpose behind our yeses? Do we participate in life’s events out of requirement, obligation, or tradition? Are we manipulated by others and influenced by their view of us? These questions are essential. If we don’t ask questions, we will be cutting down trees for no reason, walking with legs out of place, and cutting the bottoms of perfectly good biscuits the rest of our lives.
Making the Change
Jesus gives us wonderful examples of life change in the New Testament. Hot-headed Peter went from fisherman to fisher of men. Money-conscious Matthew moved from financially motivated tax collector to resigning himself to a life of humility in Christ. The ashamed, skittish woman at the well turned into a free, full-of-hope woman seeking Christ.
Jesus makes the difference—in life and in our traditions. When we meet Jesus and recognize all He’s truly done for us, how He took our place for the evils we have done, and selflessly hung on the cross in our stead, everything changes. Suddenly we realize we are loved. Forgiven. Chosen. Valuable. Accepted. Then we begin to understand that He paid for all the old and is offering to clothe us in newness. Life. Light. Freedom. Hope. And no longer do we live a life of shame, guilt, and selfishness, but we are His. And He keeps making us new for the rest of our lives, if we allow it.
Once Jesus is at the center, traditions move to the backburner. Old ways aren’t in control. And all that we once lived for is laid against the backdrop of Christ. The places where His light shines through get to stay and unfruitful chains of the old darkness must go. Every part of our reasoning must be examined and submitted to the leadership of Christ. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 (CSB), “So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
Conclusion
As the holidays approach, examine your traditions. Your whys. The level of guilt and obligation that you feel when participating in events. Are you doing things for the right reason? Maybe it’s an attitude and heart change that needs to happen, or maybe it’s a change of activity. Jesus in us should make all the difference in all that we do. If we truly have the joy of the Lord in our lives, our face, actions, and attitude will show it.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to cut down perfectly good trees or slice the bottoms off deliciously baked biscuits without a reason. And I definitely don’t want to walk funny because that’s the only way I know how.
Let’s examine the whys and take them to the Lord. He just might free us up from a lifetime of wrong thinking and open us up to a new way of life.
(For more reading on staying focused on Christ: Don’t Grow Weary – Inspire A Fire)
Copyright Christy Bass Adams, November 2024, all images from Canva
Well said, Christy. Thank you.
Thanks, my friend
I’m with you, Christy. I don’t want to lose anything for the wrong reasons. Of late I too have been reexaming why I do the things I do and changing a few things. There is freedom in this.
Oh my goodness, yes. There is such freedom for sure. The guilt and obligation leave and sincerity comes into play.
Good word and reminder! How much do I do that’s simply because that’s how it’s always been done. I have a fairly new daughter-in-law. She asks good questions. Sometimes she’ll ask me, “Why _______…?” and I’ve told her on more than one occasion, “I really have no idea.” I’d like to like that answer for my curious DIL who truly wants to know because she’s watching me and trying to learn as a new wife. Thank you for this!
Churches tend to become steeped in tradition, and often those churches are the ones that have fewer new members each year. “Because we’ve always done it that way” is a wake-up call to examine why you do it. Maybe it is because once in the ancient past biscuits got burned.