Tradition: Leading us to Substance

Jun 01, 2011 by Dan Triant

The candle was blown out over a month ago. The eggs have been eaten. The taste of roast lamb has dissipated from the pallet. All beautiful traditions helping generations experience the celebration of our Lord’s Resurrection from the dead.

Traditions assist our experiences of things that are important, yet they do not validate the importance. Without a candle, red egg, or roast lamb - the Resurrection of Jesus Christ would still be the greatest event ever to take place, as it changed the dynamic of all of creation, by extending the experience of salvation. Traditions help us to understand realities, they do not justify them.

Paschal traditions have developed glorious pilgrimages of faith, manifested in droves of believers taking steps forward toward the experience of Jesus Christ. The multiple traditions we maintain as Orthodox Christian, rooted in theology, cultures, and families, often provoke positive response to God’s grace - stewardship.

The Church has always embraced appropriate traditions, not as validation or even replacement of God’s activity, but as means of support. Such traditions existed prior to our Lord’s Resurrection, and have continually developed since.

With ease we recognize the powerful and abundant traditions that help us celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection at the feast of Pascha. Furthermore, we are invited to maintain this focus through out the entirety of the year, and our lives. The Pascal experience invites us to change for the better. The Church, and multiple cultures, has surrounded this beautiful reality with a myriad of traditions that aid our recognition and participation in this greatest feast of transformation that creation has ever known!

Beyond the Paschal celebration on Easter Sunday — each and every Sunday the Church magnificently celebrates the Lord’s Resurrection, and extends to the faithful the grace that comes forth from it. Individual parishes have developed traditions to aid the faithful in experiencing the Lord’s Resurrection on a weekly basis; fellowship hours, youth programs, community announcements, etc. Furthermore, families are also encouraged to develop appropriate traditions each Sunday that assist in the experience of the Lord’s Resurrection. Approaching together for Holy Communion? Reciting pre-communion prayers before leaving home for the Divine Liturgy? Sunday brunch after Church? A walk in a local park following the Divine Service?

Be traditional! Not by creating empty activities and repetitions that only lead to themselves, but by creating/maintaining experiences that lead to the authentic experience of Jesus Christ, as maintained by His Church. Tradition leads to substance - tradition is not the substance itself!

May the Lord’s Resurrection continue to bless and transform His faithful, who are drawn to it through so many traditions centered on His love.