Tradition and ritual ground us as human beings. Our memories of special occasions are full of well-loved foods, music, clothing and actions that connect us across generations and time, with what has been and what is yet to be.
The church is full of once-a-year traditions too: waving palm branches on Palm Sunday, tolling a bell as the names of loved ones who have died are proclaimed on All Saints Sunday, lighting candles on a wreath for each Sunday of Advent.
The familiar words and actions anchor our lives, our relationships with God and each other. Even as we grow and change, we continue to order our lives by these rituals. Each time we encounter these rituals anew, we are slightly different people, tempered by current hopes and hardships, and at different points in our journeys through life and faith.
This message is an excerpt from “A place for us all” by Jordan Miller-Stubbendick in the May 2019 issue of Gather magazine. Today, on this seventh Sunday after Pentecost, we remember Johann Sebastian Bach, who died in 1750; Heinrich Schütz, who died in 1672; George Frederick Handel, who died in 1759; musicians.
Do you enjoy these free Daily Grace messages? If so, donate now to further the ministry. Use the “where needed most” line.