Family traditions are crucial to the culture of the family. Each family should develop its own unique traditions based on the character, giftings, personal testimony, and history of its leaders. In the Phillips family, many traditions abound, all glorious and memorable. One of these traditions involves a special “too secret to be revealed in a blog” gift my father gives to me and each of his grandchildren every single year on our birthdays. The gift is basically the same each year, though it annually grows bigger and bigger depending on the age of the recipient. Though the gift is financially valuable, the monetary value of the gift is not at all what matters to us. Because our birthdays are so close, my son Joshua and I received our gifts at the same time. Each year we know it is coming, but it always brings delight and wonder to my children who look forward to it with great expectation. (See if you can guess what the gift is?)
For as long as I can remember, my father has enjoyed telling the Uncle Remus stories of Joel Chandler Harris. These readings normally occur on holidays and special occasions. Since Dad was in San Antonio, we seized the opportunity for a special recitation. The children sat spellbound. No one reads Uncle Remus like my father, or brings to life Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, and Brer Fox with such gusto. We read from the original volume which is replete with dozens of stories and includes a lengthy cast of characters.
Jubilee listens intently to Dad reading Uncle Remus.
Another Phillips family tradition is that we look for every opportunity possible to invite great men and women to our home so we can learn from them, bless them with hospitality, and interview them to learn their life stories. The San Antonio Summit officiated by my father afforded an opportunity to show hospitality to these guests and to learn from them. One guest in particular caught our attention: Tonight we spent over two hours around our dinner table with the camera rolling interviewing Hilmar Von Campe, a former member of the Hitler Youth, an applicant for the Nazi party, and a soldier under the Third Reich. (I made sure my eldest children were there to drink in the rich history.) Today, a repentant Mr. Von Campe is a Christian who has spent the last half of a century sharing a message about the dangers of moral cowardice and the evil of Nazism and all systems which oppose the Lord. In a future blog I will give you my two bits on this remarkable interview.
