There are spontaneous acts of grace. "God's freebies" as I once heard them described. Those holy moments when the meaning of life becomes particularly clear...that walk after dinner when the air is still and the mountains brilliant, playing catch with your son, biting into a firm Red Delicious, reaching out for that hand that you've held for over thirty years...holy moments to be sure but I wonder if without my ritual times I would appreciate them as much. I wonder if without the sacred rhythms of time and place and action I would find myself only racing to the next event and forgetting to savor the moment. I need the repetitive actions of ritual to appreciate all the more of "God's freebies".

Ritual action is a way of marking time, of taking notice of transitions. To set aside time each day, each week to reflect on what has gone on and what is to come seems to me a vital part of a healthy life. "The unexamined life is not worth living," said Socrates, who might have made a very good Lutheran and certainly was a very good human being. Do you ever find yourself reflecting on how the year has gone as you put away the Christmas ornaments or clear off the table from Easter dinner? Who has come into your life this year and who has now departed? How have you served others and served your God and who has been a blessing to you? These are the questions that rituals help to answer and rhythm defines.