As I prepared for work this morning, I thought about something that has brought me great comfort in life. Every culture has their rituals. As a free church guy I always heard a lot of grumbling about the "empty rituals" of the high church. The implication was that we were too spiritual for rituals. But try sitting in the pew where some elderly baptist lady has enjoyed her ritual-free worship for eighty years and see what happens.
If you are the pastor, try changing the order of service or leaving out The Lord’s Prayer (or putting it in if it is normally left out). One quickly learns that every church has their rituals. In our designed-to-be-informal services, the pastor begins every service by reciting the three commitments of the church and showing the same slide. Families have their rituals, also. Interestingly, Tony Campolo has suggested that the more ritualized family life, the closer the family unit.
Ritual and habit are close allies. When I was young I primarily used competition to motivate myself. I can run faster than you. I can score higher on this test than you. Now, I find myself leaning ever harder on ritual and habit.
Continue reading Don’t Kick the Habit
