Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Many traditions have nothing to do with God, church or rituals associated with sanctification. That does not mean they are wrong or unfruitful. As long as our traditions do not take God’s place in our hearts, then we should honor mother and father in keeping their traditions.

At this time of year I suffer from missing one of those family traditions. The older I get the more of my family has passed on out of memory. It is not that I have forgotten them but their memories and the sharing of times together are gone from me.

The mind needs to be refreshed with tales of times when we gathered together and shared life. Picnics and outings, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were a shared experiences and the volume of participants has dwindled down to just a few.

“I can remember when….” That is missing in my seasonal experience now. Memories are shorter and with new acquaintances, some of whom I have known less that ten years. They cannot refresh the memory of a time long past and those times are fading from my memory and that makes me sad.

What lingers longer in my memories are traumatic events in which I am a key player because I was the bad actor. No one is here to remind me of those famous mistakes. Those involved don’t even remember. Why are they still active memories?

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

Satan plays the spoiler. This defeated foe has nothing better to do than attack my faith. That is fine because I know one thing about enemies. They don’t bother you if you are not a threat. If you are under attack, then you are a threat to Satan. That means you are on the side of right.