When I think about this time of the year, the word tradition comes to mind along with thoughts of my maternal grandmother. My grandmother, like many grandmothers, was a strong supporter of family. She undoubtedly was the glue that held our family together. There were no quarrels or thoughts of indecision about where the holidays would be spent grandmother's house was the place to be for warm words of encouragement, lots of hugs and wonderful home-cooked meals. We were one big happy family that traveled over the highways and the byways to a familiar place called home. Although we now gather at different places with some old and some new faces, it is the tradition of "gathering" that she instilled in us.
Tradition is generally defined as long-standing beliefs, practices or customs that have been handed down from one generation to the next. Every culture, every race or group of people have their own rich customs and traditions.
In a Reith lecture sponsored by the British Broadcasting Company, Anthony Giddens, director of the London School of Economics, stated, "You can treat the global age today as a battle between modernity and tradition." He cautions us to consider that which we call tradition that may actually be creations of the modern world. For example, some may regard Kwanzaa, celebrated between December 26 and January 1, as a holiday that African descendants carried over from their native land hundreds of years ago. When in fact, Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor and current chair of the Department of Black Studies at California State University in Long Beach. This holiday is a product of the 20th century although the principles of Kwanzaa originate from ancient African harvest celebrations.
Tradition, according to Giddens, has several key elements. First, it involves some form of ceremonial ritual or ritualistic behavior. Second, tradition involves a group of people; it's collective and social in nature. Third, traditions have guardians such as historians that have access to the knowledge or the truth of tradition's sacred rituals. Fourth, tradition stirs emotion within individuals to bring about a greater sense of self-awareness. In some cultures, these rituals are important to one's self-identity within the context of a larger society.
Sometimes tradition changes from its present form into something else. While Extension, for example, has a long-standing rural tradition, it is expanding into urban environs as farmlands give way to pockets of urban communities. Yet, Extension's true tradition is helping people.
In thinking about the importance of tradition, traditions are practiced throughout every civilization known to man. Tradition is family gathering together for feast and fellowship. It is a series of rituals that give it greater value and power. It is kept alive by guardians who shed light on its true essence or its most basic truths. It is comprised of emotion that helps individuals better understand themselves and their relation to society.
Extension's true tradition is manifested in that underlying human element service! That is service to individuals, service to families, service to communities, service to society and ultimately, service to the world. Let us hope that this rich tradition never changes, but merely reinvents itself to serve a greater good!