Tradition Meets Culture

A few years ago my husband, Wilmer, and I, Marilyn, took a trip to the Holy Lands. It was inspiring to walk the paths that Jesus walked so long ago.  To see his burial site, to see where He gave the Beatitudes,  to see the Jordan River, the place that held a special attraction in that day, to actually see Jerusalem and many other Bible rich places was awesome.   The scenes of that place of the world made the Bible come alive.  However, the picture above stands in stark contract to the solemn places I mentioned.   Irony. It made us smile  because just before Wilmer got on the camel the camel "handler" was talking on his cell phone.  What irony.  And in a way that is what my book, I've Always Been Rich" tries to bring out,    We start our life out in the same way:  Dependent, fragile, helpless, needy.  But as we grow we develop gradually and become more able to help ourselves.  Still we usually rely on the lessons we learned through our growing up years.  We take from the past but move on to use new ways.  Like the camel man.  He wasn't stuck in the past. He  certainly is using his past cultural experiences but he is also taking advantage of the newer technologies of the present. 
Christmas is this weekend and I am again reminded of how we have enlarged the way we celebrate Christmas.  Some things are  traditional  today but we have more decorations, more presents, more food, etc.    What has not changed is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  The  God of the Bible is the same yesterday, today and forever.  We are reminded of that every year as we celebrate the birth of God's son, Jesus, so many years ago.   The past with such deep roots finds expression in the activities of today.  God sent His son to endure humanity, he was born in the most poverty ridden place possible, there wasn't even a place for his parents to spend the night except in a barn.  How helpless can you be when your birthplace is a stable in a barn?  The Word became flesh among us in the most humble way possible.  We remember his birth as we remember what he did throughout his life as he ministered, healed, comforted and raised people from the dead.  You say, but that was a long time ago.  Right. You see, nothing has changed except our perception of it.   Irony. Now we have the blessing of having the Holy Spirit dwelling within us- in the here and now.  Absolutely!  When we accept Jesus as Lord of our life he sends the Holy Spirit to abide with us forever.  And that is my testimony in the  book I had published . Without the Spirit to call, enable and guide me throughout my life I could not have enjoyed the blessings or the richness of  His grace.  My life, lived in according with His plan, was/is much richer than anything I could have dreamed of or envisioned.  It doesn't get any better!  Have you made that decision?
Marilyn Rensink   mjrevmom6@aol.com
Find my book at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com or your local book store.