The "Ham" Story

There was a story I heard once and I just really enjoyed the analogy that it represents. The story was about a young woman who had recently moved into a new neighborhood. Her new neighbors had welcomed her by giving her a ham as a gift. Upon receiving the ham, the young woman became upset. Noticing his wife was upset, her husband asked why she was so upset. She replied that she didn't know where they had packed the saw for cutting meat and didn't know how long it would be until it was unpacked. Confused, the husband asked why she needed the saw and she said that she has always cut an inch off each side of the ham before she cooks it. When he asked her why she always cut off an inch on each side, she said that it was always the way her mother did it. He asked why her mother did it and she was not sure. So they decided to call her mother and ask why she always cut an inch off the ham and the mother replied that it was always the way that HER mother did it. So then the young lady called her grandmother and asked why she always cut an inch off the ham. The grandmother simply replied that back when she was a young wife, she did not have a pan that was large enough to fit the entire ham so she had to cut an inch off each side of the ham so it would even fit in the pan to cook it.

This story has served me as a great example of how something that we as a civilization, society, community, family or even simply the individual sometimes have the tendency to continue on a tradition without even being aware of it or, more importantly, the purpose and reason behind it. Through internal examination we become closer to external enlightenment. I for one have made a personal goal to never again carry on a tradition simply because "That's how we've always done it"! Not to say that there aren't any traditions worth passing on, but the important ones that need carrying on are the ones that have substance, depth and a sense of something more than just a pattern through time.