Temptation of Tradition

Many of the university students tend to live in what we would call a contemporary society. The interesting part of that statement is that many of us do not seem to wish to change. We like tradition. We enjoy knowing that somethings will always be the same. When our days are spent with a certain degree of not knowing what will happen, when we aren't always sure if we're going to be able to eat another meal or pay for tutition on time, sometimes the traditions that we cling to are the ones that we need.

When I came to university, I wanted to find a church that was modern, the reflected not only what I was learning and how I was growing, but how I felt in my new life as a university student. A life that had few rules and little structure. It turns out though, that while I seem to crave a life with few restrictions and fewer rules, I want a life with more tradition, more things that I can always count on to be the same.

I found that and more in the chapel that I attend here at Western. I found a level of tradition that I never knew before at my Presbyterian church. I now have communion every Sunday, which is a very different experience for me, and the grandeur of tradition there is sometimes overwhelming. Somehow, at the end of the week, or I suppose the beginning, coming home to the tradition is what I need. I need the tradition in my services just as I seek the tradition in other areas of my life. I need to know that when I go home for Christmas, there will be the constant playing at services on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning will come with mimosas and cinnamon buns and I don't have to move farther than the couch all day. I need to know that my room will still look like a fire trap with books piled in every imaginable place and a few new ones. I need the little bit of nagging that I have to get rid of some of the books from that basement and the cat curling up on my lap and prohibiting my movements for awhile.

The call of the contemporary and changing society seems to become so strong when we are away at university, but the temptation of tradition and the ability to begin to create our own is just that much stronger.