Part 2: Routine, Ritual, and Liturgy

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When life is a hustle and we have too much traction, or when life is stuck and we don’t seem to have any traction, we need an equalizer.  We crave equilibrium.   
  
The balanced weight we need is found in knowing the veil between us and “What takes up where we leave off”. The Lord is extraordinarily close.  Moment to moment, we are invited to slow down or gear up for what waits as our highest blessing.  Entrance into the Abundant Kingdom of God ...now.  Not later...now.

Daily practices, rituals, and ceremony are our initiative toward the Lord.  They are a sacrifice of our focus, presence and time.  They are an offering.  

One of the most change-making things about routine and ritual is that it bypasses our linear cognitive mind and side steps past our rational mind so that we can enter another realm. If only for a few minutes, what would it be like to be more in tune with what is unseen than what is seen? (Hebrews 11:1) 
  
Trish Harrison Warren (2019) calls us to remember that each day, full of hurry or doldrums, holds an invitation to this other Realm.  Routine and ritual remind us of what we know in our heads but don’t feel in our hearts consistently… 


“We are marked from our first waking moment by an identity that is given to us by grace:  an identity that is deeper and more real than any other identity we will don that day….We wake not to a vague or general mercy from a far-off God. God, in delight and wisdom, has made, named, and blessed this average day... 

What I in my weakness see as another monotonous day in a string of days, God has given as a singular gift. (2019, P. 8) 

So, how to?  

  1. 1.  Let Spirit lead into creating rituals for occasions and situations you would like to structure. Consider if you are drawn to mini-ritual around making your bed in the morning (starting off with that one rectangular beacon of order is more powerful than you may think).  A more meaty ceremony of prayer walking around your home once a quarter?  Or, a liturgy around morning quiet space? Consider the location that you need to execute the experience in. Take care to prepare that space to be a homecoming for each time you repeat your ritual or routine.  
  
  1. 2.  Once you have chosen our heart’s inclination toward developing the particular practice, begin to set up a stated intention for the ceremony.  This will engage your mind in the creative. The more simple and clear the intention, the better. Hold your intention loosely enough to give the Spirit room to shift as He pleases. 
  
  1. 3.  Make a plan and take seriously the task of managing your attention distractions as you know works for you best.  You can find many different practices to try on for size if you search through the “Mandi on Mindfulness” Jordan Stones blog posts.  This one *click here* is a great, simple place to start.  
  
  1. 4.  Set yourself up for success by keeping it simple.  Walk through any sort of movement (some simple yoga forms?), breath work, writing, journaling, sensory additions (candles, essential oils, instrumental worship music, or classical music. Gregorian chants are a powerful way to experience the cathedral of your heart’s inner chamber as holy worship territory.) 
  
  1. 5.  Always leave at least a little room and time for stillness, silence, and receptivity 
  

  
Here is an example from one of my favorite books (*click here* for JS YouTube expounding on this fan-favorite resource)  of a ritual that the author uses in the beginning and ending times of prayer: 
Opening 
  1. I make the sign of the cross 
  2. I say the Our Father or the Morning Offering 
  3. I sing or hum one verse or the refrain of my favorite hymn 
  4. I bow before my prayer spot 
  5. I place my hands, palms up, in a gesture of receptivity 
  6. I light a candle 
  7. I quite myself down.  I slow down my breathing. I sit very still for a moment and try to turn down the volume on my crazy, random thoughts and preoccupations 
  8. I ask God to make his presence all around me and even within me. If it feels natural to do so, I allow myself to linger in this sense of God's presence.  I descend into and soak in this experience for a moment, as though it were a hot bath.  If  I do not sense God’s presence, I wait quietly and patiently for another moment.  If I still do not sense God’s presence, I don’t let it bother me.  I simply lean on my faith that he is here, even when I don’t perceive his presence. I let my heart, mind, and soul remember what it does feel like when I do sense his presence, and I let that suffice for now.  

Closing 
  1. I place my hands together as a sign of closure.  
  2. I blow out my candle 
  3. I sing or hum a verse or the refrain of my favorite hymn
  4. I close with the Our Father or Morning Offering  
  5. I make the sign of the cross 
  6. I bow before my prayer spot before leaving.   

Thibodeaux, M. E. (2015). Reimagining the Ignatian Examen: Fresh ways to pray from your day. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press, a Jesuit ministry. 
  
2019. Warren, Tish Harrison. Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life. IVP, an Imprint of InterVarsity Press 
  

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