Job 21:6
When I just think of it, I am dismayed,
And trembling seizes my flesh.
Tradition. Today is Aggie Muster and is very important to many Aggies as they honor those that have passed the last year. It is a tradition. It’s not like most traditions, but it is one none the less.
‘Think’ was also ‘recall’ and ‘remember’. ‘Dismayed’ was also ‘terrified’, ‘afraid’, and ‘appalled’.
‘Trembling’ was also ‘shudder’. ‘Flesh’ was also ‘body’. ‘Seizes’ was also ‘takes hold’ and ‘grips’.
I grew up with the paradigm that a tradition was a good thing. So, in college, I went along with most of the traditions that didn’t seem to offend who I was. Hazing was a tradition in some aspects, but I didn’t go there. Drinking was put forth as a tradition in many ways, but I didn’t go there. They called me a 2 percenter with a negative connotation, but better that than follow stupid stuff.
The church I grew up in was very traditional, and our family spent a lot of time doing traditional stuff. The church I go to now seems to do nothing the same twice on purpose. Both churches are very conservative. Both churches are seeking to serve the community. But one is/was traditional and one is not.
The traditions I miss are the hymns, the creeds, and the long-term repetition. My new church avoids hymns unless they change them up to fit the latest music trends and create chants that repeat endlessly. My old church sang hymns that glorified God. My old church repeated the Apostles creed so everyone would know what we believed, including us. My church repeated things on long cycles so that we would find comfort in worshiping God.
I understand we are trying to welcome in others, and I want to do that, but I also want to revel in the comfort and presence of God that tradition provides. I am thinking I need to provide myself with these tradition things in my own life and leave the corporate worship to others. Maybe this makes me a 2 percenter again, but I want to experience God and not some popular chant.
Written 4/21/26, Posted 5/16, Job 492/~1070