“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

1984, George Orwell

George Orwell, in 1984, gave a dystopian view of the future. Much of what he wrote about has become a part of our daily lives, which is one of the reasons that this book is a favorite. Orwell was concerned about communism and the Nazi government’s attempt to control and manipulate the thoughts of the people. One of the ways of controlling thought was to rewrite history. We have already seen this in the US with modern secular educational textbooks that have erased the Christian influence in the establishment of this country. Students in this country are being taught a false history which has become the truth for them.

One of the ways that we combat this false narrative is to have holidays and traditions where we can share the truth. Passover is an example of a Holy day (Holiday) during which the parents shared the story of God saving His people:

And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Exodus 12:26-27

As Americans, we have holidays such as Thanksgiving and the 4th of July that we use to pass on the history of the US. Traditions enhance these holidays and bring more meaning and consistency to our understanding of history.

During the Reformation, Protestants turned their focus back to the Bible with the emphasis on Sola Scriptura. This meant that the Bible was the source of truth and not traditions. Sadly, this resulted in Protestants throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The church calendar and many traditions were rejected—not because they contradicted the Bible, but because they were not addressed in the Bible. This has hurt many protestant churches, because it removed a tool that helped us have a deeper understanding of our faith.

We are moving into a tough time for the Christian churches in the US. Persecution and hostility  are growing. This is a time when traditions can help us bring a richer meaning to our faith and help us to remain strong. We must ensure that our children have a deeper understanding of the Word of God and not allow the state to control the narrative. To accomplish this, we need to look at the church calendar and rediscover the church traditions to include in our lives to help us through the times ahead.