I read a quote the other day about institutions, traditions, and truth.
I didn’t copy the quote, but the idea was that institutions use traditions to prevent change and conceal the truth.
The FREEDOM TOUR has developed a few traditions during eleven years of cycling.
Handprints. Hope Rocks. Helmets Up before the start of each ride. Word Of The Day during our tours.
Traditions point us back to our core beliefs and remind us why we do what we do. In the midst of change, traditions help us avoid a sort of “drift” in which we start looking like every other bike ride.
Tradition becomes dangerous, I think, when it’s turned into ritual, performed by those who don’t appreciate the history and meaning. When it’s completed just because it’s supposed to be completed. When we cling to it because it’s always been that way. When it becomes the focus.
Tradition becomes dangerous when it’s more important than people.
Because the whole point of our traditions is to remember Jesus, who thought people were so important that He left heaven to be with us.