It’s Sunday morning and Sam and I participated in our sacred ritual. We rose while it was still dark. We dressed for the occasion. We brought along what was required. We partook of what was offered. And we returned home refreshed in body, mind and spirit.
For most of our lives, this ritual was experienced in a building, with lots of people, with traditions, and language, and texts centuries in the making. For almost 30 of those years, I led the ritual with all that I had to offer and a lot of help. But with the beginning of the pandemic, that fell apart. First, my leadership was moved from in-person to on-line. Then life intervened and I simply no longer had a ritual to lead. Not only that, with my autoimmune disease, I am not engaging people in groups of any size indoors. So many changes. Yet, change does not necessarily equal loss.
I’ve summed up our new worship ritual with the four simple words above. Stop. Appreciate. Thank. And Share. We stop what might be our usual daily practice and make our way out into creation. We appreciate, mostly in silence what we find around us. We take it in–and let it wash over us. I often appreciate by not only noticing but capturing in photos. As we take our leave, there’s more silence…grateful silence, thankful silence, worshipful silence. And the important final step, sharing. A disciple not only sees, learns and follows… but shares. My practice of sending a photo to someone is not only prayer, but a sharing of the goodnes, bounty, mercy and love of God.
There is so much inspiration that is a part of this worship ritual. No hymns, but waves, and birds, and children laughing. I don’t know anyone’s name, but most strangers up at 6:30 a.m. greet one another with a smile and a word as we pass. All around are examples of love, of faithfulness, of beauty, of goodness, of joy. A guy and his dog run north. A dad has brought his young son to fish. Couples sit cross-legged side by side in silence, waiting. A whole family is on their blanket. No one has organized us, but at the moment the sun slips up from the horizon, or comes out from the distant bank of clouds, everyone stops–awe abounds.
Just like I don’t know if/when I’ll ever go back into a retail store, or get on an airplane, I don’t know if/when I will ever be part of a traditional worshiping community. But I do realize, finally, that it’s not about the building, or like-minded people–or even about the rituals and traditions that once sustained me. I realize that I have been graced with all I need to love God, self and neighbor. And just this morning in my appreciative silence, I suddenly hoped that at sometime across my ministry year, I said that, conveyed that, to those before me.
It doesn’t have to be Sunday to STOP. APPRECIATE. THANK. & SHARE. You don’t need to live next to the Atlantic. You don’t even need to love pre-dawn. Just see with your heart. Behold it Trust it. Be grateful. And Share. It’s really that simple.
Sola Deo gloria (Glory to God Alone)
xo Kathleen
thecelticmonk/ JAX BEACH
The Celtic Monk Musings 