Creating space for holy relationship
Ritual is where God's Presence and our Calling intersect
Throughout our history with God, we have engaged in ritual: proscribed activities that make space for God’s voice and action, and our response.
Things that may feel rote to some - saying prayers written in books sometimes don’t connect to our souls, for example. But surprising things happen when rituals are repeated - sometimes our hearts are opened, our relationships changed, we feel God’s presence.
Ritual is the ‘spiritual exercise’ that shapes our souls daily.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20:8-11).
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen’, lifting up their hands. Then they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. (Nehemiah 8:5-6)
Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean.” (John 13:5-11).
Throughout Christian history, we’ve practiced Rituals to put ourselves in holy spaces - and to find God there.
Ritual is the action.
The thing that we go to again again because it brings us into that place - puts us in God‘s presence.
I’m one of those people who believes in the ‘runner’s high’ (this is Cathie). Sometimes when I’m running, I feel that sense of the eternal - I get to that place where there’s no boundary between my body and the sunshine. I feel like I have transcended my very body and I am just a soul.
But honestly, some days are slog. Sometimes it rains, and it’s cold. Sometimes I count the steps I take until I am done. Sometimes I have to force myself to do my stretching exercises, my foam rolling, my strength workouts, - which I hate - all because I’m chasing that feeling of transcendence that I get every once in awhile.
Ritual is the ‘exercise’ part of the spiritual exercises!
It’s that place we go again and again - in prayer, in worship, in silence, in fasting.
It’s the thing that brings us into the space for the presence of God and the strengthening of our Calling.
Sometimes it is glorious, and we feel that transcendence. Sometimes it does feel rote. Sometimes it opens up our souls, so that we can get to a deeper place eventually. Sometimes it’s just putting ourselves in that place because we know that this is where others have found God.
