Learning Something New

I've said many times before that I believe the day I don't need to learn anything is the day I die.  Continued learning is a huge part of life.  Admittedly, the things I learn on any given day are more likely to be trivial than important.  I'm still learning something, though, and sometimes the trivial information can be useful.

Yesterday morning, I arrived at church and found a small vase of flowers on the altar.  When I say small, I mean that, vase and all, it couldn't have been much larger than my hand.  There was no note left anywhere that the flowers were given for a special reason (those flowers tend to be much larger and not on the altar).  There was no mention of anything special going on in the bulletin.  There was only a small vase of flowers.  One of my parishioners, upon seeing the flowers, pointed out that it was Mothering Sunday.  I was clueless and kept thinking she meant Mother's Day.  It was time for me to learn something new.

As it turns out, Mothering Sunday occurs on the fourth Sunday in Lent and is the UK's version of Mother's Day (talk about being in touch with our Anglican roots).  There is a tradition at my church to celebrate Mothering Sunday by setting special flowers on the altar during the service.  If there's anything else to the tradition, we skipped it this year simply because I had no idea what should be done. 

The timing of Mothering Sunday this year seems rather fitting for me.  Yesterday was the day my family celebrated my mother's birthday (as well as my parent's anniversary).   While I was not able to be there yesterday, I did spend a few days with family at the end of last week, so I got to do a mini celebration.

Are there any "new" traditions you are discovering?  I'm especially interested in hearing from my priest and church followers about discovering traditions in their churches.