Rituals

Two weeks ago my 95 year old grandfather passed away and for the first time in 20 years I set foot in a Catholic Church.

At first the opulence was all I could see. Every nook and cranny covered with gold leaf, huge carved saint statues looking down on me with judgemental looks on their faces, icons decorating the walls.

During the mass I recognised something.
Rituals!
A lot of them. I somehow forgot or maybe I wanted to forget. But there they were, underneath the gold leaf, the heavy velvet and the shiny silk.

And then I recognized something else. We all have our rituals, one way or another. I guess it’s safe to say that every religion (I use this word as a generic term.) has its rituals. But rituals are definitely not limited to religions.

We use rituals every single day. Whether we are aware of them or not. Take something like getting out of bed in the morning.
One person might just get up, brush their teeth and take a shower. Every day in that order.
Another person might turn under their blanket for five more minutes, gets up and gets a cup of coffee first before getting ready. Every day in that same order.

Or how about picking that same spot on the bus every single time?

In their own way and in their own right, those are rituals too.

Rituals are made of repetition and rhythm.
And this is where Raidho comes to mind and everything feels connected again.