Rituals: Encountering the Sacred in Each Day
Picture taken by Christina of my espresso in Pasadena, CA
In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock T.S. Eliot says, “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.” I love this image. Plunging a spoon into freshly ground coffee, selecting just enough to brew a potent cup. No more, no less: a morning ritual that leads you into the day. By the end of T.S. Eliot’s life, I imagine him looking back over a long line of days marked by well-portioned cups of coffee.
Rituals—something you do regularly, and in the same way each time—are necessary right now, during the COVID-19 quarantine. They help us mark days that could otherwise blend together, giving us more manageable portions that aren’t so bland or overwhelming. Through actions or words, the use of tactile objects, or observing our own interior thoughts, rituals draw us into the present moment. They re-focus our attention and bring meaning to even ordinary occurrences:
Saying a prayer of gratitude before eating a meal
Celebrating a birthday with a favorite cake
Journaling before going to bed
Lighting a candle while you work at your desk
Meditating before eating lunch
Reading a chapter a day with your kid(s)
Sharing your highs and lows as a family at dinner
Reciting a song or mantra while you wash your hands
Spiritually, rituals can be a way of acknowledging that something sacred is taking place in our lives—whether big (a graduation, a marriage) or small (a transition from morning to afternoon). The ritual enables us to pause within the forward movement of time, and know that God is with us.
Religions have used rituals to designate the sacred (transcendent, True Reality) from profane (time bound reality). But rather than differentiating the two, rituals can simply call awareness to what is already there: We are living within the sacred, and the sacred is living within us. We need intentional practices to reorient to our True Reality, to help us return to the abundance of life that is always available.
How different a morning cup of coffee would be if it were a ritual to re-awaken our senses: inhaling aromatic beans, so deeply you can already taste the coffee’s flavor on your tongue. Feeling the granular texture of grinds against your skin, as you roll them playfully between your finger and thumb. Seeing the rich, thick liquid pour, with a flourish of steam. Letting your palm warm gradually, as it curls full faced against a thick ceramic mug. Savoring the first sip, long enough to identify all its nuanced tones of earth and fruit.
Awakening the senses gives us heightened sensitivity throughout our day: then we can sense the many ways God is being revealed to us.
All of us have daily rituals that are being interrupted during the quarantine. But this interruption can be an invitation to adopt new rituals or bring greater awareness to already existing ones. It could be as easy as starting with your morning cup of coffee, and taking time to enjoy it.