Life Changing Rituals

I hesitate to draw spirituality into the discussion of rituals because it is clearly far different from avoiding cracks in the sidewalk or rinsing dishes with hot water. But in my own life I cannot see many other habits or rituals eventually reaching out to change the world.

On Wednesday evenings throughout the semester here at Andrews, I nearly always meet with a friend of mine for supper at 6:30 and then go to PMC at 7pm for House of Prayer. While eating supper with my friend, our conversation usually strays into deeper questions about spirituality and faith. My friend has recently been struggling with the concept of faith in God due to corruption in the church and suffering throughout the world and has actually decided that although God is present, there is no need to be an Adventist.

Could this ritual of supper and discussion be life-changing, or to put it more broadly, world-changing? I believe that it has deepened our friendship, that it has been a growing experience for both of us, and I do not doubt that this in turn can spread to our mutual friends and our other friends and to their friends...

House of Prayer at PMC is a similarly effective ritual. We meet together as a body and sing hymns. Recently we have been studying the tabernacle sanctuary service and learning how each of the articles in the sanctuary are a part of our salvation and our prayer. We have been praying the text of Zechariah 12:10 which speaks of God pouring out a spirit of grace and supplication on His children that they might earnestly seek Him. After gathering in small groups to pray, we then have one corporate "touch-and-agree" prayer, kneeling together at the front of the youth chapel with our hands on the shoulders around us.

World-changing? Definitely. Perhaps the process is begun by the posters tacked up around campus, but word of mouth works--there are a number of us who have come at the recommendation of others.

World-view or life-changing? Even more so. I so look forward to this refreshing time. An hour away from studies is a lot of time (especially for a worship that doesn't count as a required dorm worship!), but I have never found myself disadvantaged as result. This ritual is not only changing my life, but certainly the lives of those around me.