While on vacation in Daytona Beach one summer, a family quickly fell into a regular daily routine. The first thing on the agenda every morning was a power-walk on the beach. They usually walked as fast as they could on the firm beach the mile or more to the pier, where they then enjoyed a nice breakfast at Crabby Joe's place. Then they completed their daily exercise as they hiked back with the morning sun beginning to warm the day.

Then after all the day's activities of shopping, swimming, sailing, and surfing, they'd take another long walk on the beach at dusk. This time was often barefoot as they walked on the edge of the water, a leisurely stroll in which they soaked up the serenity of the day's end. The constant movement of the water and the close presence of the resting gulls and sandpipers had a hypnotic effect, and by the end of the pleasant walk on the beach, the mellowness of the ocean had worked its way inside of them.

The family was only there a week, but the routine became a habit that they didn't want to break. Isn't it amazing that we so easily fall into a routine like that? I guess we are all creatures of habit. We easily become accustomed to doing things the same way.

We do the same thing in church. We quickly learn to count on a certain predictability of the activities of Sunday school and worship, and we are very hesitant to see them change. If we are not careful, some of these expectations become full-fledged traditions. They take on a significance far greater than simply being a convenient routine. Some things become almost holy and unchangeable. When that happens they have moved from being a routine to become a sacred cow. Then, when someone tampers with a sacred cow, people become very upset.