Everyday Faith: The Importance of Ritual on the Soul

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko

Blue Skies and the Dove of Peace: One Man’s Journey to Find God is a book recommendation on how to learn more about faith in daily life.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

While the ritual conjures up associations of witchery and the like, there is nothing sinister about the word itself. Ritual, actually, is something that we all humans do. These are our habitual routines, our little acts that make the day and serve something much more overarching. Rituals are prayers. They are the quiet habits we do before going outside or after coming inside. It’s the overlooked things that actually bear great meaning. In a sense, they are what binds each of us to the divine, to the communal, and to the personal. They are the nuts and bolts of daily life, providing structure and constancy for our spiritual frameworks. As a Christian, rituals are especially important for developing and maintaining a relationship with God. They are the small conversations we have with him, the daily readings of the Bible, the meditations on faith, and more. Without ritual, our spiritual lives would be such a mess. So, why should we learn more about it?

The Importance of Ritual on the Soul

Ritual, as defined simply, can be said that it is a series of actions that individuals perform in a prescribed manner. This may have either a religious, a cultural, or a personal significance. Often, they have all three or a combination thereof. Some rituals are quite complex, like yearly festivals, or they can be quite simple, like doing the sign of the cross. Whatever they may be, they all share a common purpose: to ground us to something that is far larger than any one of us. Through the lens of Christianity, ritual then is the vehicle by which we express our faith and worship in God. It is how we even have a spiritual life to speak of.

Ripped notes scattered about an intact one which reads “Give it to God.”
Everyday faith makes your relationship with God stronger.

Photo by Tara Winstead

The Everyday Faith of a Christian

Christians have a variety of rituals they practice. These are all in service to having a relationship with God. Because God is far vaster than what our senses can conceive of, He is felt only spiritually. The best way to feel Him, then, is through ritual. Through prayer, meditation, worship, and more, we experience His constant presence in our lives. This also leads us to a deeper relationship with Him because rituals also serve as opportunities for expressing our thanks and our gratitude.

As we feel God through ritual, we also sense other believers through it as well. Rituals foster a sense of belonging and community. Knowing that someone else is doing the same things you are, prayer, meditation, etc., or has done them with the same intention as you helps in bridging the gap that comes with being different people. Communal rituals, most especially, strengthen the bonds that fellow believers have. These kinds of rituals also give structure to our lives, manifesting into reality the order and purpose that God channels through us as vessels of His will.

Perhaps the most important aspect of ritual is the spiritual nourishment that it provides us. From the simplest of rituals to the most complex, each grounds us to the reality around us, giving us a sense of peace and tranquility. It is through ritual that we create a quiet space for deeper reflection and quiet conversation with God. It is by this power that ritual is one of the most powerful tools for spirituality. Without ritual, everything becomes a mess, unstructured, and without purpose–thus, it is imperative that ritual be maintained.

A woman praying by her bedside.
Everyday faith makes your relationship with God stronger.

Photo by Kaboompics.com

Everyday Faith and Its Christian Manifestations

While there are far too many rituals that Christians practice daily across the globe, here are the most common ones that we can talk about:

  1. Prayer. Perhaps the most common ritual, prayer, allows us to have a consistent conversation with God. During prayer, we thank, beseech, and acknowledge Him. This is done before and after sleep.
  2. Meditation. Another common ritual is meditation. It is the act of keeping mindful and allowing your thoughts to drift wherever. It is in the quiet moment that is cultivated from meditating that one deepens their faith and connection with God.
  3. Service. The most outward reflection of ritual is that which is done for others. Ritual is most often structured, but there are rituals such as these that are defined by the willingness and intent of the ritual-doer.

For a copy of Blue Skies and the Dove of Peace, click this link to take you to its Barnes & Noble page.

Mitchell W. Pezdek Jr. is an author and educator with a strong spiritual background. He graduated from Harvard College with a government major and later taught at church schools for over twelve years. As a devout Roman Catholic, Pezdek's works explore themes of faith, purpose, and the human experience in relation to God. His book, "Blue Skies and the Dove of Peace," discusses the range of human emotions and the search for divine connection. Pezdek emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and connection with God to find one's purpose in life, as evidenced by his upcoming blogs on spiritual life.
Mitchell Pezdek

Related posts

3 comments

  • August C.

    really great article! a lot more understanding of things.

Leave your comment

Skip to content