It's impression that remains

While it is uncharacteristic of me lately, I am in a decent mood today. Why? A number of reasons:

First, I have an amazing wife who I love very much. For reasons I can never quite fathom, she loves me
Second, I have six wonderful children, all of whom I love very much
Third, I went to confession today with my usual confessor
Fourth, looking at the apricot trees in blossom on my morning walk, it's clear that here along the Wasatch Front Spring has sprung Finally, yesterday I presented the findings of my Doctor of Ministry dissertation to my committee and completed my comprehensive oral examination

I will participate in next month's Mount Angel Seminary commencement as a graduating member of the seminary's first Doctor of Ministry class. Oh yeah, I had nachos for lunch!

Not bad for a Lenten Friday. I know that going four months between confessions is too long.

I took the entire week off prepare for yesterday's presentation and exam. While I have not gotten everything done that I hoped, I did finish what I needed to finish. There is always more ahead, like preparing to preach at a parish I am visiting this weekend. Of course, in addition to school, I had a number of other things to do. Some of these were planned and others kind of popped up.

For today's traditio I am reaching back about twenty-five years. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones song "The Impression that I Get" is our Friday traditio. Why? For whatever reason, today I remembered that that my oldest son and I, when he was toddler, would put this song on the stereo and sing and dance to it. Since he was born 11 months after my wife and I married, the venue for this activity was the living room of our first apartment. Calling this to mind today made it seem like it wasn't that long ago. Where does the time go? For some reason, the passing of time has been on my mind a lot during this Lenten season. I do think that in our fast-paced and relentless world that values memory less and less, it is important to remember that memories matter.

Let's not forget that traditio refers to what is handed on. Tradere, a verb, is the act of handing on. So, the Friday traditio is always tinged with memory.