Roots and ashes

Never came across a better analogy than this one to explain and understand tradition...
Thanks to Pope Francis...

Speaking to a group of journalists he spoke of tradition and the need to look at it as roots that nourish life rather than ashes to be carefully preserved!

An extract from the news report on National Catholic Reporter:

Pope Francis has criticized traditionalist Catholics who seek to "safeguard the ashes" of the past, saying the global church's centuries of tradition are not akin to a container for preserved objects but instead like roots to be drawn on for future growth. 

In a press conference aboard the papal flight back to Rome after his three-day visit to Romania, he singled out Catholic "fundamentalists," who he said have a nostalgia for "returning to the ashes." 

Tradition is the guarantee of the future and not the container of the ashes. Tradition is like roots [of a tree], which give us nutrition to grow.  You will not become like the roots. You will flower, grow, give fruit. And the seeds become roots for other people. The tradition of the church is always in movement. The tradition does not safeguard the ashes.