The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon. Genesis 32:31-32
Family Traditions
A mother and daughter who were working together in the kitchen preparing the Easter dinner. They always worked together to make their special traditional family Easter meal. No matter what the mother was doing, it seemed that the daughter was always watching her intently. The mother could even feel her daughters big brown eyes on her without even turning to see if she was in the room. Yet she continued with her task of preparing the meal without even missing a beat or a blink.
As she did every year the mother took the pan out of the cupboard and set it on the counter. Then she went to the fridge and removed the ham that had been defrosting. They had a large ham this year.
It was not unusually large or different then last year's ham. She took the wrapping off and then proceeded to cut about an inch off of either end of the ham. Before the mother even put the ham in the pan the daughter stopped her and said: "Mom why did you cut the ends off the ham?"
The mother stopped in her tracks and pondered the question. She was rather perplexed since no one had ever asked her why she cut the ham that way before. She had done it that way as long as she could remember. The mother answered her daughter and said: "Well sweetie, I really don't know the answer to your question. Your Grandma always cut the ends off of her ham and I have just naturally done the same thing. I never ever wondered why I did that though. So let's call Grandma and ask her why she cuts the ham that way."
So they grabbed the phone and called Grandma. Then the mother asked her mother if she knew why
she cut the ends of the ham off before placing it in the pan. The Grandmother stopped and became rather quiet. She hadn't thought about her ritual of cutting the ham being anything different then normal. Then it occurred to her that her own mother had done the very same thing for as long as she remembered. The Grandmother suggested that the daughter call her mother and ask her that very question.
So she hung up the phone and dialed the little girl's great-grandmother. After the usual pleasantries she asked her why she cut the ends of the ham off before cooking it. She replied without hesitation and with a smile in her voice along with a little chuckle...... The reason that she cut the ends off of the ham was because back in the early days of their marriage she didn't have a pan big enough to hold the ham. They couldn't afford to buy a bigger pan either. So that was the only way to make the ham fit in the pan.
Why do we do the things we do?
While reading the Old Testament, you constantly come across stories that end with ... and that is why we still do this today ... or and that is why this place is called ... stories have a place in our lives - especially stories of origin.
Stories remind us of what is important. What stories from your life need to be told?
Take time and today and think about some of your family traditions ... Why do you keep them? What started them? Tell the story and hopefully you can keep someone from cutting a ham that needs no cutting or at least you can chuckle while they do.
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