Canceled flights, school closings, and interrupted schedules are all solid

reminders: our lives run on routine. An “ice day” that affords us some sleep-in time

or maybe even an extension on a difficult test is cold comfort to the fact that we

have things to do and agendas to keep. It’s just about mid-point in this spring

semester and as inconvenient as the ice and cold might be, an unplanned moment of

pause and reflection is a good opportunity to take account of the manner in which

we live our lives and, perhaps more importantly, to inventory that for which we

truly live. We don’t, however, rely solely on acts of nature to keep us in touch with a

sense of meaning and purpose. Embedded within the matrix of our daily routines

are multiple, intentional behaviors that connect us to what we believe is

transcendent. Often referred to as rituals or ritual behavior, these acts are not

simple nor are they casual, but the recognition of their presence and practice in our

waking moments is profound.

Some rituals are blatant, formal, and often religious, others are subtle,

personal, and without connection to faith or creed, but ritual behavior maintains its

power in connecting individuals to larger ideals and concepts. High schools and

universities, for example, conclude their years with graduation ceremonies.

Students parade in a prescribed manner through auditoriums and coliseums to the

familiar tune of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Onlookers cheer, wave, and cry as they

mark a significant moment in the life of a loved one. Certain rites of passage

(weddings, funerals, coming of age ceremonies, etc.) are religious in construct and

operate with the same level of veneration. Spiritual leaders and those participating

acknowledge the protocol and decorum that is often complex and mandatory. At

most sporting events, fans participate in the nationalized ritual of singing the Star-

Bangled Banner. Individuals rise, remove their hats, and place hands over hearts;

such formal behavior is designed to remind attendees of the beauty, the joy, the

sorrows, and the privileges of living in the United States.

Even with these common examples, it is the personal employment of ritual

behavior that sustains us no matter the “weather” of our every-day experience. In

other words, these ritual actions are not unconscious, habitual behaviors, but in

great contrast are willful and intentional. Rituals connect us with what we believe

about life, so that when we enact a ritual, we are outwardly expressing what we

claim to believe within ourselves.

Joseph Campbell, in The Power of Myth, finds a very eloquent way of

connecting ritual behavior to personal belief. “The function of ritual, as I understand

it, is to give form to human life, not in the way of mere surface arrangement, but in

depth.” Its function then becomes one of reaching beyond the façade of innocuous

daily routine, and instead, potentially transforms the mindless into the mindful.

Thich Nhat Hanh in his, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of

Meditation, speaks of the simple act of washing the dishes as an opportunity to be

grounded in the moment. While not recognized as any kind of formal behavior, the

act of consciously engaging in an activity, like washing dishes, while remaining

present in the moment, allows individuals to stay connected to what Eckhart Tolle

would refer to as the most important moment of our lives: now.

Caroline Myss, in Invisible Acts of Power, assumes a stronger connection of

ritual to a spiritual element and explains that,

“We don’t enact them [rites/sacraments] simply because they are social

customs. They convey important, universal human values and divine values. They

create a divine connection between our consciousness and our souls, between us

and other people, and between us and God.”

Myss notes that rituals are based in action and that these actions connect us to

essential understandings that link our hearts and souls to divinity. Catherine Bell

offers a contrasting perspective with her Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. She

addresses the contemporary shift of ritual away from religious association, but

continues to speak to its function and power in every day pursuits.

“If most people in industrial societies no longer go to church regularly or

practice elaborate rituals of initiation, this does not mean that ritual has declined…

Instead, new types of ritual – political, sporting, musical, medical, academic, and so

on – have taken the place of the traditional ones.”

Bell’s thoughts are visible in popular culture and quite often reflected in the

stories produced in film. In a humorous example from Back to the Future (1985),

the eccentric genius Doc Brown speaks of a “rhythmic, ceremonial ritual” as he

refers to the high school dance where Marty’s parents will solidify their relationship.

I have no doubt that anthropologists would attest to the potent rituals involved in

human courtship behavior, all of which are observable at any high school gathering.

Cooley High (1975) offers a more somber example as the film outlines the lives of

African American teens from the inner-city neighborhoods of Chicago. In one

memorable scene, a tight-knit group of friends gathers at night in a dark alleyway

and shares memories and feelings. While

imbibing with some wine, they pour a

small amount onto the street before

drinking and declare, “…this is for the

brothers who ain’t here.” A similar scene

takes place at the funeral of the group’s

close friend, as the main character, Preach, stands alone at the grave site and pours

out some liquor “…for the dudes who ain’t here.” Such scenes render a simple but

powerful way of consciously recognizing the transient quality of life.

One of the most meaningful examples of ritual behavior that I have

experienced occurred on the SMU campus several years ago. A group of Tibetan

monks spent a full week within the common space of the Hughes Trigg student

center and constructed a sand mandala. The inside area in which the monks

designed and assembled their work was closed off to the public, although people

could assemble closely around the area or watch from upstairs balcony.

The entire process took about a week and the monks worked, napped, and ate

within the closed off rectangle which became their sacred space. Many in the SMU

community were aware of the nature of the mandala, its elements of Buddhism, and

the direction that the closing ceremony would eventually take. To others, the finale

would be a true surprise. After the mandala was complete, the monks held a

ceremony and invited the entire campus to participate. They said prayers, played

some very unique music, and as a crowd of more than two hundred people watched,

the lead monk, using a large brush, swept the beautiful, intricately designed

mandala into one simple pile of sand. People of many faiths as well as those of no

faith at all were present on that day, but the power of the ceremonial destruction of

the mandala had its most notable effect heard in the collective gasp from those in

attendance.

Those who participated and witnessed the act “got it”: even the most beautiful

elements of life are transient; as humans, we are impermanent.

Ritual behavior takes many forms. Sometimes we find it rooted in complex

religious ceremony, other times it takes shape in the simple behavior repeated

between friends. Whatever its configuration, it is simply the recognition of those

behaviors, those willfully executed touchstones of thought, that keep us connected

to what it transcendent to us, to what gives us meaning and purpose. Once again,

Campbell finds a compelling manner in which to express the idea behind meaning

and purpose.

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of

being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the

rapture of being alive.”

Rituals give us those resonances. Whether they are situated in formal belief or

fastened to communal behavior between intimate friends, recognizing their

presence and deliberately participating in ritual behavior can transform the

ordinary into the extraordinary, so that we do truly experience the “rapture” of

being alive.