It's Fall Ya' All - Season to Remember Loved Ones

It Fall Ya' All!   

Every year around this time I am deeply reminded of how life is about change.   Growing up in the heartland of America, fall always was the signal for showing gratitude for the harvest from our abundant farmlands. They called our part of the world the "Wheat Capital of the World" for all the wheat that was grown in our part of the world.   The sea of golden waving wheat crops was a testament to a good summer with enough rain and sunny days and our home gardens would be overflowing with mouth-watering and nutritious homegrown goodness.  Homegrown tomatoes and cucumber can get this girl's mouth-watering anytime.

As I have grown older,  I have begun to include in our fall celebration the honoring of my ancestors and all other ancestors for all they have done in their lifetimes, so that we may live the life that we are fortunate enough to live today.    Each child that is born is standing on the shoulders of a huge mountain of ancestors from both their mother's and father's lineage that has gone before them.  

Each child born including you and me are the bridge that connects two lineages together.  When I began to really consider how many had gone before me, I became deeply moved.

I have a great love for my creator, Holy Mother-Father God.    My parents were good stewards to make sure that I was raised in a good Southern-Baptist church.   My Mother, Beverly Jean Jones Barton was devoted to making sure her children had the opportunity to experience a relationship with God and Jesus in a place of worship.  My Dad, Max E. Barton, supported my Mother in her spiritual direction for our family.

  My maternal grandmother, Bertha Mary Mildred Longshore Jones, was a founding member of the First Baptist Church in her town, along with being a young widowed single mother who owned and managed the Del Royce Hotel.  She was an artist with painting being one of her many ways to express her abundant creativity.   She painted a beautiful scene of the River Jordan behind the baptismal at her church, that was the talk of her small and thriving town.    My paternal grandmother Viola Mae Martin Barton, was a devoted member of the Central Christian Church.   She was a  school teacher and the majority provider for her almost blind husband and 5 children.  She was devoted to reading her bible every day and I believe it supported her through the tough Great Depression Years. She would read the bible all the way through each year and every January 1st she began again.  

My parents, mother and father-in-law, grandparents, great-grandparents,  etc, were what you call "Salt of the Earth".  They were Christians who strived to make changes in the world by doing God's Work.   You could say that I have inherited my passion to help others from those who have gone before me.    If my lineage did not have such a love for God and Jesus, my life could have taken a different direction.

Traveling the world and studying different religions and cultures, I have come to learn how we are much more alike than we are different.    I honor the religions that are based in peace, love, compassion, and forgiveness.   Each area and culture of the world chooses different ways to express their gratitude for those who have gone before them.  

Most cultures around the world have created a way to honor their beloved ancestors.  The Chinese, Native Americans,  Japanese,  Korea, ancient Egyptians, ancient Romans, various African tribes, Indians, Hindus, Buddhists, Celts, Irish, Spanish, Muslims, Peruvians, Inuits,  Judaism and Christianity, to name a few of the world's cultures and religions, all have created endearing ways that they have chosen to honor the contributions and blessings of their ancestors.

We all have ancestors by virtue of being alive, regardless of the way we choose to categorize them.

Halloween, All Hallows' Eve or  All Saint's Eve is a celebration observed in several countries on October 31🎃, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallow's Day.  It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints(hallows), martyrs, and the faithful departed.

In the Catholic tradition, they show gratitude for ancestors on All Saints Day Nov.1st.   In the Mexican and Aztec tradition, they honor their ancestors in a multi-day holiday from October 31 to November 2, called the Day of the Dead. The holiday involves family and friends gathering to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died and help support their spiritual journey.  In Mexican culture, death is viewed as a natural part of the human cycle. 

In Ireland, the area by the fire was the place that the ancestors would visit on Halloween. This is a time of the coming together of family, both, living on earth and those who are now living in heaven.  Its a magical time of celebrating and honoring the contributions of all those who are living and those who are now in heaven.   

Today you can find fall festivals and Halloween celebrations in many cities and communities around the world.   We are all in this together and each person's contribution contributes to the whole. 

The fall celebrations are a wonderful time to take a pause from our busy lives and focus on honoring our ancestors who have contributed to who we are here today and for the bounty of the gardens that we are each growing in our lives.   It could be giving thanks for a beautiful vegetable garden, or for the growth of your family garden with each member representing a brilliant creation of God's that you and your ancestors are helping to nurture each and every day.

I am profoundly gratefully for the blessing that our family has received from our ancestorial lineage, and I am profoundly grateful for the blessing of each of your family's ancestorial lineage.   We are all one family in our Creator's Eye's, and I am grateful for the gifts that have been contributed to our world cornucopia basket of blessings for all.   

It took me some time until I began to really appreciated my ancestorial lineage.  Remembering that each one of us is standing on the work, dedication, and foundation that have been built by our ancestors.   What about you, have you stopped to ponder all that your family has been blessed with by your ancestors?   We would love to hear about what you honor and are grateful for in your family lineage and their contribution of blessings and gifts to the world.   Have you created a special way to honor your ancestors that has special meaning for you and your family?   We would love to hear about your family!

Love, Light and Peace Blessings to You and Your Family, (including your Ancestors)!

😇💝

Tracy

MomsInJoy.com

©️TracyJNicholas 2019