— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Our life is full of rituals reflecting believes or traditions (not to get up with the left foot, how we greet one another, be careful on certain days like Friday 13 in Germany). Rituals of dressing, greeting, behaving shape our daily routine and give us the certainty that we are doing well. Some traditional rituals are disappearing (kissing the feet of an older person, eating fish on Friday, bowing the head in front of an authority) and others are emerging particularly in the non-verbal communication or fashion among the youth.
Particularly obvious are rituals when preparing the Christmas tree or in New Year Ceremonies, or even more when passing through the different stages of the life cycle: rituals at birth, at puberty (initiation rituals), receiving a diploma, and finally death rituals including when and how and where the dead is to be buried. Rituals are helpful and have a binding power when bringing people with the same believes together.
In contrast, if we live in a family where the spouses come from different cultures, we may experience that the acceptance of the other`s ritual may not be easy. May parents came from very distant parts of Germany; it took them years to agree on the Christmas rituals and how to prepare the Christmas tree. However, they learned to overcome the dividing power of rituals. They were liberal and open to accept different rituals at church as my father was protestant and my mother catholic. Living in a multicultural and multilinguistic family, rituals related to every-day-life (dressing, eating, verbal expressions, non-verbal communications and many others) are refreshing, stimulating and educative but they can also be barriers towards mutual understanding, sources of misinterpretations and causes of conflict.
The New Testament is full of Jesus` fights against rituals which prescribed modes of handwashing, fasting or animal sacrifice and particularly what one is not allowed to eat, to drink, to enjoy, to do. He fought against the dominant elite who used rituals to underline their power. John the Baptist still followed the traditions but Jesus broke rituals and declared something very new knowing that this was dangerous in ancient Israel. In one of the challenges by the elite he offered an unexpected clear definition of the characteristics of rituals (Mc 7, 1-13): The ritual prescriptions are external, remain on the surface; they may give us mental support and stability, but what really counts is what comes from the inside of ourselves: love, charity, understanding but also hate, neglect and fight. He showed with examples that we should not take a ritual as something holy in itself but look at the meaning. He himself established a powerful ritual, the communion; but it reveals its spiritual power only when we understand the meaning behind it.
Unfortunately, rituals have an enormous potential of dividing religions (Jewish, Islamic, Christian) and even congregations (catholic vs. protestant). Therefore Paul in his letter to the Romans (14, 1-6) advised to be tolerant with those who believe in certain rituals and those who don’t. “Who are you to pass judgement on… another?*
This is also an important message for us today: To be tolerant and look beyond the surface of a ritual.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 