Sacred Rituals and Traditions…
“We not only nurture our sacred relationships through ritual, but we are nurtured by them as well. In ritual, we move, and we are moved.” —Alison Leigh Lilly
Since sharing Mark Nepo’s poem, Made From Bone, at last Thursday’s Quiet Pause session, I’ve been pondering what matters and recharges me. Nepo reminds us “And we are reborn each time we touch what matters.”
Perhaps contemplating what matters is why seeing multiple quotes referencing the importance of tradition or ritual captured my attention.
“I craft because it makes me happy, helps me heal, and because it’s tradition.” —Taylor Gutierrez, as featured in an Etsy newsletter. This artist weaves together the benefits of immersing ourselves not just in any activity, but in one arising from tradition.
What traditions or rituals this autumn and holiday season can nourish your spirit and sustain you right now? From visiting a pumpkin patch to daily tea rituals, there are rituals that are too important to our well-being to dismiss because we’re distracted. These traditions anchor us and remind us what matters.
A Love of Tradition
“A love of tradition has never weakened a nation; indeed, it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril; but the new view must come, the world must roll forward.”
―Winston Churchill
The Importance of Ritual
“Ritual is to spiritual greatness what practice is to a tennis player, daily writing disciplines are to a novelist, and reading company accounts are to Warren Buffett. They are the precondition of high achievement.” ― Jonathan Sacks
Keep the Flame Alive
“Tradition does not mean to look after the ash, but to keep the flame alive.”
―Jean Jaures
Made From Bone
When I can be the truth,
it grows more and more clear
when it is necessary to tell the truth.
That is, when I have access to the place
within me that is lighted, I don’t have
to speak heatedly. I can just give away
warmth. When I am still enough to brush
quietly with eternity, I don’t have to
speak of God. I can just offer peace
to those around me.
A tree grows so it can convey wind.
It is not the wind. And a person grows
in order to convey spirit.
They say that animals recharge
their innocence each time they hoof
the earth. And we are reborn
each time we touch what matters.
—Mark Nepo
What matters to you? How can you allow more time for what matters in order to recharge your spirit?
