“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?”  Matthew 15:1-20  In my mother’s house a clean room was a “tradition,” an unspoken, uncontested act of obedience. However, my two sons are seven years apart and by the time my second son reached the age at which I felt he understood the importance of taking responsibility, I no longer concerned myself with the clean rooms. I’d fought that battle with the first and lost over and over again. I simply asked that he keep his door closed at all times. I realized choosing battles is an art form and in between those years, so much more was going on in the lives of my children that needed more of my attention, more of my love.  Of course everything can not be solved by simply shutting the door and “traditions” we hold to can make us and at other times break us. Yet, in 2000+ years the one tradition that allows us to grow and move forward in spite of the battles we choose, is the tradition of God which has never changed; to love, to love unconditionally, and to love more – over and over again.