Rituals, Contemplation & Time
Hello there,
We’re almost halfway through the year. In some ways, 2026 is flying by. In others, it seems to crawl at a slow pace. The days are long but the years are fast.
Time does, indeed, move more quickly as you get older. We have more days under our belts, which means that relative time - or the way that we relate to the length of a day - changes. I’m 38, and I’ve begun to realize just how short life is the last 2 years.
I’ve continued reading The Disappearance of Rituals by Byun-Chul Han. In a very short third chapter, he writes about how rituals don’t, cannot, lend to narcissism. While I don’t think he intends narcissism to mean the DSM-V mental health diagnosis, I think he means the focus on our own egos. At least, that’s how I read it.
Rituals, ceremonies or practices have a beginning and an ending - a rising and falling. You begin, and you stop. Meditation is not neverending. Prayer is not neverending. Fasting cannot be neverending. And yet, when we spend time in these sacred practices, the feeling and quality of time changes.
Several years ago, I began to strongly believe that you can only encounter God in the present moment. If you are ruminating about the past, you cannot be present with God. If you are worried about the future, you cannot be present with God. The future and past focus is exclusive. I think this, more than anything, is why Jesus talks about not worrying about this life, what we’ll eat or wear. There is nothing else, other than this moment.
This is why contemplative practices - tuning in to what is - are so critical. Where else do we fully tune into the present moment? Do we? I know I struggle to, in my doom-scrolling or podcast-listening or youtube-watching.
And yet, the present is so hard. When we’re present, we feel everything. There’s no turning away from what is, no matter how wonderful or how uncomfortable. Moments of joy are often more uncomfortable than moments of sadness because they remind us of all the times that life is not full of joy. Isn’t it interesting that in moments of joy we feel both the presence and absence of it acutely?
In last week’s Contemplative Practice, we read and Lectio Divina’d our way through Jan Richardson’s blessing, A Blessing for Traveling in the Dark.
I love this blessing so much…
And so, my prompt for mid-year reflection for you is Where have you lingered lately?
And Where are you leaving?
And, is there a place of darkness? Is it friendly, or fearsome?
These prompts might invite you into some journaling, or they might be a place for you to rest as we enter mid-year.
Paying Attention To
I finished Orbital. Up next is finishing My Bright Abyss.
I’ve been playing the solo TTRPG Koriko and it’s so fun and endearing. Definitely something to linger over.
