Canceled flights, school closings, and interrupted schedules are

all solid reminders: our lives run on routine. An ice day that affords
us some sleep-in time or maybe even an extension on a difficult test is
cold comfort to the fact that we have things to do and agendas to
keep. Its just about mid-point in this spring semester and as
inconvenient as the ice and cold might be, an unplanned moment of
pause and reflection is a good opportunity to take account of the
manner in which we live our lives and, perhaps more importantly, to
inventory that for which we truly live. We dont, however, rely solely
on acts of nature to keep us in touch with a sense of meaning and
purpose. Embedded within the matrix of our daily routines are multiple,
intentional behaviors that connect us to what we believe is
transcendent. Often referred to as rituals or ritual behavior, these acts
are not simple nor are they casual, but the recognition of their
presence and practice in our waking moments is profound.

Some rituals are blatant, formal, and often religious, others are
subtle, personal, and without connection to faith or creed, but ritual
behavior maintains its power in connecting individuals to larger ideals
and concepts. High schools and universities, for example, conclude
their years with graduation ceremonies. Students parade in a
prescribed manner through auditoriums and coliseums to the familiar
tune of Pomp and Circumstance. Onlookers cheer, wave, and cry as
they mark a significant moment in the life of a loved one. Certain rites
of passage (weddings, funerals, coming of age ceremonies, etc.) are
religious in construct and operate with the same level of veneration.
Spiritual leaders and those participating acknowledge the protocol and
decorum that is often complex and mandatory. At most sporting
events, fans participate in the nationalized ritual of singing the StarBangled Banner. Individuals rise, remove their hats, and place hands
over hearts; such formal behavior is designed to remind attendees of
the beauty, the joy, the sorrows, and the privileges of living in the
United States.
Even with these common examples, it is the personal
employment of ritual behavior that sustains us no matter the
weather of our every-day experience. In other words, these ritual
actions are not unconscious, habitual behaviors, but in great contrast
are willful and intentional. Rituals connect us with what we believe

about life, so that when we enact a ritual, we are outwardly expressing

what we claim to believe within ourselves.
Joseph Campbell, in The Power of Myth, finds a very eloquent
way of connecting ritual behavior to personal belief. The function of
ritual, as I understand it, is to give form to human life, not in the way of
mere surface arrangement, but in depth. Its function then becomes
one of reaching beyond the faade of innocuous daily routine, and
instead, potentially transforms the mindless into the mindful.
Thich Nhat Hanh in his, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to
the Practice of Meditation, speaks of the simple act of washing the
dishes as an opportunity to be grounded in the moment. While not
recognized as any kind of formal behavior, the act of consciously
engaging in an activity, like washing dishes, while remaining present in
the moment, allows individuals to stay connected to what Eckhart Tolle
would refer to as the most important moment of our lives: now.
Caroline Myss, in Invisible Acts of Power, assumes a stronger
connection of ritual to a spiritual element and explains that,
We dont enact them [rites/sacraments] simply because they
are social customs. They convey important, universal human values
and divine values. They create a divine connection between our
consciousness and our souls, between us and other people, and
between us and God.
Myss notes that rituals are based in action and that these actions
connect us to essential understandings that link our hearts and souls to

divinity. Catherine Bell offers a contrasting perspective with her Ritual

Theory, Ritual Practice. She addresses the contemporary shift of ritual
away from religious association, but continues to speak to its function
and power in every day pursuits.
If most people in industrial societies no longer go to church
regularly or practice elaborate rituals of initiation, this does not mean
that ritual has declined Instead, new types of ritual political,
sporting, musical, medical, academic, and so on have taken the place
of the traditional ones.

Bells thoughts are visible in popular culture and quite often

reflected in the stories produced in film. In a humorous example from
Back to the Future (1985), the eccentric genius Doc Brown speaks of a
rhythmic, ceremonial ritual as he refers to the high school dance
where Martys parents will solidify their relationship.

I have no doubt that anthropologists would attest to the potent rituals

involved in human courtship behavior, all of which are observable at
any high school gathering. Cooley High (1975) offers a more somber
example as the film outlines the lives of African American teens from
the inner-city neighborhoods of Chicago. In one memorable scene, a
tight-knit group of friends gathers
at night in a dark alleyway and
shares memories and feelings.
While imbibing with some wine,
they pour a small amount onto the
street before drinking and declare,
this is for the brothers who aint here. A similar scene takes place
at the funeral of the groups close friend, as the main character,
Preach, stands alone at the grave site and pours out some liquor for
the dudes who aint here. Such scenes render a simple but powerful
way of consciously recognizing the transient quality of life.
One of the most meaningful examples of ritual behavior that I
have experienced occurred on the SMU campus several years ago. A
group of Tibetan monks spent a full week within the common space of
the Hughes Trigg student center and constructed a sand mandala. The
inside area in which the monks designed and assembled their work
was closed off to the public, although people could assemble closely
around the area or watch from upstairs balcony.

The entire process took about a week and the monks worked, napped,
and ate within the closed off rectangle which became their sacred
space. Many in the SMU community were aware of the nature of the
mandala, its elements of Buddhism, and the direction that the closing
ceremony would eventually take. To others, the finale would be a true
surprise. After the mandala was complete, the monks held a ceremony
and invited the entire campus to participate. They said prayers,
played some very unique music, and as a crowd of more than two
hundred people watched, the lead monk, using a large brush, swept
the beautiful, intricately designed mandala into one simple pile of
sand. People of many faiths as well as those of no faith at all were

present on that day, but the power of the ceremonial destruction of the
mandala had its most notable effect heard in the collective gasp from
those in attendance.

Those who participated and witnessed the act got it: even the most
beautiful elements of life are transient; as humans, we are
impermanent.

Ritual behavior takes many forms. Sometimes we find it rooted in

complex religious ceremony, other times it takes shape in the simple
behavior repeated between friends. Whatever its configuration, it is
simply the recognition of those behaviors, those willfully executed
touchstones of thought, that keep us connected to what it
transcendent to us, to what gives us meaning and purpose. Once
again, Campbell finds a compelling manner in which to express the
idea behind meaning and purpose.
People say that what were all seeking is a meaning for life. I
dont think thats what were really seeking. I think that what were
seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on
the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own
innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of
being alive.
Rituals give us those resonances. Whether they are situated in formal
belief or fastened to communal behavior between intimate friends,
recognizing their presence and deliberately participating in ritual
behavior can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, so that we
do truly experience the rapture of being alive.