01-05-2018, 12:43 PM
As I write this, with the wind howling off the frozen river factored in it's -36F here in Campbell's Bay. It was probably colder than that when I went out to feed the birds this morning. Being part of God's care for his creatures is both necessity and ritual worship. If I hadn't started feeding them they'd probably have done just fine on their own, but I did, and now they need me to continue .. there's a lesson there (for me, anyway) that once we enter into a covenant with Creation (and therefore God), we must keep it or there are consequences.
I can't speak for anyone else, but to me all 'ritual' has to have real world meaning or it's as empty as the blowing out of candles on a birthday cake. When your relationship with God happens out in nature, that's taken care of. I'm either gathering or using His gifts to me or giving back to Creation in some way (like the gift of blood to the swarms of biting insects, although I try to give as little as possible there, I still have to give some). I know, too, that when Paul's out there chopping firewood, under his breath he's not (only) swearing at the cold, he's thanking God for the wood that will keep us warm.
My concern is more for those who are stuck in urban environments, they're the ones who'd have the harder time feeling part of Creation. But everyone can find their own ways I suppose.
I can't speak for anyone else, but to me all 'ritual' has to have real world meaning or it's as empty as the blowing out of candles on a birthday cake. When your relationship with God happens out in nature, that's taken care of. I'm either gathering or using His gifts to me or giving back to Creation in some way (like the gift of blood to the swarms of biting insects, although I try to give as little as possible there, I still have to give some). I know, too, that when Paul's out there chopping firewood, under his breath he's not (only) swearing at the cold, he's thanking God for the wood that will keep us warm.
My concern is more for those who are stuck in urban environments, they're the ones who'd have the harder time feeling part of Creation. But everyone can find their own ways I suppose.