The Importance Of Rituals In Our Daily Lives

I am writing this post on the final day of the year. How do you celebrate the old and bring in the new year? I found one site listing what is done in various countries. Here's a sample:

SPAIN At midnight, it's customary to quickly eat 12 grapes, one at each stroke of the clock. Each one signifies good luck for one month of the coming year. FINLAND Folks predict their fortunes for the coming year by casting molten tin into a container of water and interpreting the shape the metal takes after it hardens. A heart or ring shape means a wedding, a ship signifies travel. a pig means lots of good food. BELARUSUnmarried women play games to predict who will get hitched in the new year. In one game a pile of corn is put in front of each woman and a rooster is let loose. Whatever pile he approaches first shows which woman will be the first to marry. PHILIPPINES Round shapes, which represent coins, symbolize prosperity. There are heaps of round fruits on dining tables. Some folks eat precisely a dozen fruits at midnight. Polka dots also are thought to bring good luck, being round and all, and are quite prominent.

But how important are such rituals on the other days of the year? R. Alan Culpepper, commenting on The Gospel of Luke in The New Interpreter's Bible, reflects on the importance of rituals:

... The observance of religious requirements and rituals has fallen on hard times. Essential to Judaism is the praise of God in all of life. The Jewish law taught that God was to be honored in one's rising up and lying down, in going out and coming in, in how one dressed and what one ate. . . .

The pressures of modern life have reduced the importance of rituals in our everyday lives. How many of us even have prayer before meals any longer? Very few take any time to study the Bible together. Some reading this will have to admit that they only attend church on holidays like Christmas or Easter or when requested to attend a wedding or a funeral. The marking of daily events with a ritual that recognizes God's presence in our lives is practically extinct. So we end up assuming that we will only find God in certain sacred places or in observances led by holy people. 

Are we living in a world from which God has departed? Will your day to day experiences in this new year have no meaning beyond themselves? Is there no longer room for mystery and wonder in this world of high tech and science fiction? 

Here is a challenge for the new year : Make a special point to celebrate God's presence and goodness in the wonder of family and friends at meals, special events like birthdays and anniversaries, the discovery of a place you've never visited before, moving into a new home or upon recovering from a serious illness or accident. 

For instance, Anglican priest, Rev. Bosco Peters, offers a chalk house blessing on Epiphany, January 6.   Epiphany is the day that the western church remembers the visit of the Magi, the wise men from the east who came to worship the Christ Child. So we may ask God to bless the visit of all who enter our house in this new year. 

Martin Luther's commentary on the First Article of the Apostles Creed reminds us of this. 

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my limbs, my reason, and all my senses, and still preserves them; in addition thereto, clothing and shoes, meat and drink, house and homestead, wife and children, fields, cattle, and all my goods; that He provides me richly and daily with all that I need to support this body and life, protects me from all danger, and guards me and preserves me from all evil; and all this out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all which I owe it to Him to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him. 

This is most certainly true.

[The Book of Concord: The Small Catechism]

May our LORD bless each and every day of your new year. 

The History Of The Happy Birthday Song

Sometimes some of us older folks become quite discouraged. Who wants to celebrate another birthday? We prefer instead to join sour old Solomon as he says,

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. -Ecc 7:1 ESV

I humbly suggest that if this is your controlling attitude, you miss many opportunities to give thanks to our Lord for His goodness. Birthday celebrations give us one such. Our birthday celebrations can and should include songs of praise and thanks to the One who has granted another year filled with His mercy, love and blessings.


By the way, what do you know about the well known happy birthday song? Here are some Happy Birthday Fun Facts. The story begins at the end of the 19th century. Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill were kindergarten and Sunday-school teachers. One day, while Mildred was teaching at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School where her sister was the principal, she came up with a modest melody we now know as "Happy Birthday." Sister Patty added some simple lyrics to complete the creation of a greeting song for teachers to use in welcoming students to class.

Good morning to you
Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.

This catchy little tune was first published in 1893 in a songbook, Song Stories for the Kindergaten. Ultimately it proved more popular as a song for the children to sing to their teachers with the final line becoming "Good morning to you."

Snopes reports that nobody knows who wrote the words to "Happy Birthday to you." The lyrics appeared in a 1924 songbook edited by one Robert H. Coleman. Radio broadcasts and sound films popularized it. It appeared in a 1931 Broadway musical The Band Wagon. That musical introduced the song "Dancing in the Dark" and inspired two films. In 1933 the "Happy Birthday To You" song also became Western Union's first singing telegram. Irving Berlin's musical As Thousands Cheer, also in 1933, featured the song.

Neither Western Union nor the musicals compensated the Hill sisters for their song. So Jessica Hill, a third Hill sister who administered the copyright to "Good Morning To All," filed suit in 1934. In court she was able to demonstrate the undeniable similarities between "Good Morning To All" and "Happy Birthday To You." So she secured a copyright for "Happy Birthday To You" in 1935. The copyright was renewed in 1963.  In 1988, Birch Tree Group, Ltd. sold the rights of the song to Time Warner Communications, along with all other assets, for an estimated $25 million. It has been incorporated into millions of music boxes, watches, musical greeting cards and other tuneful products. Forbes magazine reports that the song brings in about $2 million in licensing revenues each year.

The next time you sing the Happy Birthday song, remember where it came from and also remember to give thanks for the millions of blessings that come from our Creator and Lord year after year.

The Bible Doesn't Encourage Birthday Parties

In a little over a week our family will be celebrating the birthday of our great-grandson. His name is Byron and I've been blogging about him since he was born. In most families birthdays are important events. This week I'll share a little information about birthdays, both from history and the Bible. 

Birthdays are days in which to give thanks. Our family celebrates God's precious gift to our grandson and his wife. We thank the Lord for His ongoing creation, for this one named Byron. We will especially thank our Lord for Byron's new birth in Christ on the day we remember his baptism some weeks after his birth.

It is quite interesting to learn that the Bible gives precious little guidance on how to celebrate birthdays. In fact, the Bible tells us of only two birthday celebrations. Both of them were celebrations by unbelieving kings that ended up badly. 

The first birthday we read about was that of the Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled Egypt during the time of Joseph. As you may recall, Joseph had been sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, because he claimed to have a dream predicting his eventual rule over them all (Gen. 37:5-36). In Egypt Joseph's master, Potiphar, recognized his talents and put him in charge of all that he owned. But that got Joseph into trouble with Potiphar's wife and he landed up in prison (Gen. 39:1-22). Even there the prison warden put him in charge of all the prisoners. 

While in the prison Joseph's reputation for interpreting dreams spread among the prisoners. Pharaoh's personal butler (cupbearer) and baker asked him to interpret their dreams. Joseph told them that on Pharaoh's birthday the butler would be restored to his position, but the baker would be hanged. And so it was. The self-centered cupbearer forgot to be thankful for Joseph's gift and left him to languish in prison for another two years.  (Gen. 40:9-41:11).

Wooden Sculpture by Ana Maria Pacheco 

The only other birthday celebration we read about is found in the New Testament story of King Herod having a big birthday bash and being forced to present the head of John the Baptist to reward his step-daughter for her salacious dance (Matt. 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-29). 

Neither story gives us good feelings about birthday celebrations. One story features a hanging and the other the murder of the greatest prophet of all time, the forerunner of the Christ (Matt. 11:11-14). 

What's the lesson to be learned? Obviously both kings were extremely self-centered and more concerned about their personal reputations than how they treated those beneath them. They could judge, condemn and even murder without challenge. Perhaps that says something about our emphasis upon expecting and getting presents on our birthdays. I'll leave that to you to decide. 

There may be one more birthday story in the Bible in Job 1:1-5. This wealthy and pious man had seven sons and three daughters. His sons each had a big celebration "on his day." Job was so concerned about what went on in those feasts that he had special prayers and burnt offerings for his children after they ended. That too doesn't say much about birthday celebrations. 

But stay tuned. We may yet find some better things to say about birthdays in the next posts.  

Celebrating Birthdays

Last night Sylvia and I joined some friends to celebrate Mosetta's birthday at a local restaurant. The celebrant rejoiced that we were gathered on the very day of her birthday. In fact, just two days prior Sylvia celebrated her birthday, the same birth day as her sister, who is three years older. We've often marveled at the fact that both sisters were born on the same day three years apart. Another strange thing--to us--is the fact that both sisters married good friends and longtime classmates, whose birthdays were but one day apart. 

I was talking about birthdays with one of the therapists during my physical rehab session. She commented that Sylvia is a Leo and wondered what I am. I had to scratch about in my memory for the name of my astrological sign and finally said, "Why I'm a Libra." She wondered how that worked out between us since Leos are apparently the take-charge people and we Libras are supposed to vascillate back and forth, being more emotional by nature. I said something to the effect that it must be working since we've now been married for over 51 years. 

I mention this incident not because I put any credence whatsoever in astrological signs--despite the story of the Magi and Jesus' birth. Rather, I speak about it to note all the many feelings, ideas and customs that wrap around birthdays. 

Origen of Alexandria (185-245 A.D.), in his dissertation on Leviticus, reminds us that in the Scriptures no believer is recorded to have celebrated his birthday. He wrote, "None of the saints can be found who ever held a feast or a banquet upon his birthday. . . But sinners rejoice and make merry on such days. For we find in the Old Testament that Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrated his birthday with a feast, and that Herod, in the New Testament did the same." 

That makes one wonder, does it not, whether we Christians of this time and day ought to be celebrating our birthdays. Are such celebrations pagan? Certainly not. They belong to the class of things that are neither commanded nor forbidden in the Bible. These are called adiaphora by theologians.  

And recall, if you will, that we annually celebrate the greatest birthday of all, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ on December 25. We celebrate it on that date even though we have nothing certain in the Bible telling us either the day of the month or the year when He was born. The celebration of Jesus' birth could, I suppose, be called an adiaphora, since it is not commanded. And there are still those Christians who refuse to celebrate it. However, the church has long ago decided that the reading of God's Word, the singing of hymns and the teaching connected with such celebrations can be wonderfully edifying. 

Maybe that's a partial reason why we celebrate birthdays with our friends and family as well. Such times help us to look back with thanks for another year of God's grace and forward with a prayer for continued blessings.

As I write, Sylvia and I have just returned from the store to purchase a cake for Dorothy. We're going to celebrate her 94th birthday after the worship service at our church. We'll gather around to rejoice with her for all the many blessings our Lord has showered upon her during the past decades. It will be wonderful celebration, I'm sure.