Traditions

This weekend a very large festival is being celebrated here in Asia. I don't know all of the background on the holiday but we do get to experience a lot of the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of it. Today we went for a walk along the river and came upon many tents/booths set up selling stuff, kind of like at a fair. It was great fun walking around and taking in the sights. The weather was also perfect for being out, along with lots of other families who had the same idea. Part of the holiday is to give special, small cakes to family and friends. They are being sold on just about every street corner, in every store, and at many restaurants. We were given two boxes of them, and were pretty excited to try them out today.
This is the lid of one of the tins. Thought you may enjoy the eloquent message it included. "Carefully-selected quality materials plus elaborate processing bring you and your family the warmth and sweetness."Here is Josiah, hand inside the tin, deciding which kind we should try.
So far we have eaten four of the cakes, they are very dense and remind us of fruitcake. From the ones we were given, they seem to be a combination of nuts and dried fruit in a paste (a lot of times a bean paste) and baked within a pastry type of shell. This last week, as Jared has been out, he has been asking random people about the cakes. His most common question is, "Do you like them?" Every single person he has asked has said no. Some have said that usually only kids like them, others say it is just what you give for the holiday. The only person who told me that they enjoyed them, was our househelper. It seems to be one of those things you do, or eat, because of tradition. This is a small example, but there are many, many things here that are done/or not done because of tradition or superstition. I am thankful that we are not living under those rules and fears but instead under the one true God who governs and controls all things.