I decided to make chili the other day. Thought it would be perfect in this cold weather. I make my chili according to an old family recipe my greatgrandpa Byron “BA” Hanks left the family. Mom taught it to me. She described how Papa chopped the onions and garlic, and added ¾ cup of warm water. “You dasn’t add tomato or beans,” he commanded. I’m sorry, Papa. It tastes better to me with beans and tomatoes. I have a preacher friend from Ada who calls my chili recipe “chili bean soup.” I don’t care, Randy. My family and I love it.

We sat down around our family dinner table, my wife, our three kids and I, and enjoyed Papa’s enhanced chili. The kids grew fond of it, and each has their own adaptation of the chili. They all feed it to their children. It’s a family ritual.

Rituals are a powerful thing in the family. They seem best at the family dinner table. Research from various universities concluded that a child’s IQ can be increased by as much as 10% by rituals such as the dinner table. Rituals have helped our family to hold together, in spite of the fact that our politics runs from the far right to far left. They still come to the family dinner table, more or less peacefully. They are all Christians, all bound together by Christ. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” –Psalm 133:1.

Do you want to form a strong family? Then make the family dinner table your tradition, with Jesus at its head. “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us either by our spoken word or by our letter.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:15.