Imbecilic Succession

A young girl watched her mother prepare a ham for baking and noticed that she cut the end off the ham before inserting it into a pan. When she could find no reason for the cutting, she asked her mother, “Mama, why do you cut the end off the ham before you put it in the pan?” The mother replied, “I'm not really sure. My mother always did. Let's call grandma and ask her.” So the mother and daughter called grandma and asked, “Grandma, why do you cut the end off the ham before you put it in the pan?” Grandma answered, “I'm not sure. My mother always did. Why don't you call and ask her?” So, the little girl and her mom called great-grandma. “Great grandma” they asked, “Why do you cut the end off the ham before you put it in the pan?” To which the elderly great-grandma replied, “Oh honey, when I was younger, we had a pan that was much too small to put the whole ham into, so I would cut off the end so that it would fit into the pan.”

Some traditions are like that. They are just right for the time, have no current day thought, and are continued by rote rather than reason. They are followed by imbecilic succession rather than introspective pursuit, and those who engage in them have no better idea about their beginnings or function than the mother who continues to cut the end off a ham without good reason. In other words, sometimes people do not stop to examine why the do what they do. They just do them without asking, seeking or knocking because it's the way it has always been.

Advantage belongs to the one who asks, seeks and knocks to discover reason for traditions. Sometimes in pursuing one finds good reason for succession, and other times he or she finds a totally different path. What most will find if they choose to disengage from continuance without understanding is that the pursuit leads to a “He” rather than an “it”, and those who are wise enough to find that tradition will find that the “He” is unalterable, consistent, everlasting and worthy of succession. Otherwise, keep cutting the end off your ham. Until tomorrow...Why Say More?