Part 4 ~Ritual And Liturgy, a part of Grail discovery?

A Quest For The Holy Grail?

In our previously essay Adapting Ministry To Meet The Needs Of A Changing Culture, part three of the series "A Quest For The Holy Grail" we explored how some church leaders and ministers were failing to provide instruction relative to the changing needs of a people that are a part of a changing culture. We touched on how we fail to provide the laity, "working tools" with which to focus their meditations and thereby develop a deeper understanding and connection to the divine.

Tying a string around your finger to remind you of something is an act that has become somewhat of a cliché and has become a point of humor. The string does not perform any sort of act but only serves to remind you of something, and it is left up to your memory to remember what that something is that the string is to remind you of.

In organizations such as the Masonic Fraternity, the various tools of operative stonemasons are used to symbolically remind the Brother of great moral teachings, and if the Brother takes the practice seriously, as he goes through his day he is reminded of these teachings. An operative stone mason uses the trowel to spread cement, the square to square his work, the level and plumb to erect perfect horizontal and vertical surfaces, and the twenty four inch ruler to measure his work. The speculative Mason is reminded on a subliminal level by these tools moral teachings and should reflect on his actions always doing that which is "good work which is square and plumb," For the non mason who has wondered the purpose of these various symbols, it shouldn't take too much imagination to ascertain the hidden meaning of these "secrets" of the fraternity.

No doubt you are reading this essay on a computer, and the system by which you "interface" or interact with the computer is called a Graphical User Interface or the more common acronym, GUI (pronounced "gu-ee.") This system of symbols or icons comprises a method by which we can command the computer to perform its various tasks by "clicking" on a button or other icon. For instance most of know that when we see a icon that looks like a miniature graphical representation of a printer, should we click on that icon, the computer will send a command to our printer to reproduce the page we are viewing. In the same respect, when a member of a fraternity, such as the Masons as we discussed in the previous paragraph, see a Masonic Icon, the initiated member knows the meaning of that particular symbol and is reminded of the corresponding great moral teaching. In the Christian faith we have the same system, such as the cross. When we see it we should be reminded of the cross of Christ, and the gift he gave to us upon that cross. Of course there are countless other icons within the Christian faith, each reminding us or teaching us of an important facet of our faith.

We also have rituals within the Christian faith just as certain fraternal organizations do. Baptisms, Holy Communion, and other rituals play an important part in our religion as well as our spirituality. Rituals and liturgy, a structured form of worship act upon our conscious mind so as to set the religious experience or act apart from other acts and experiences in our routine lives. This science of using ritual and liturgy to disconnect us from the mundane life and to connect us to God through our spirituality enables some to focus their meditation and concentration so as to be the better enabled to connect to the sprit. Just as "GUIes" (Graphical User Interface[s]) enable us to more readily interact with our computers, religious icons, ritual and liturgy CAN enable some people to more efficiently interact with their spirituality. These acts and symbols become aids to the process of visualization and meditation, important aspects of connecting to the Holy Sprit.

It is important to note that just including a religious icon in one's home as a decorative accessory, does not constitute an immediate connection to the Holy Sprit. Nor does participation in ritual or liturgy performed in a mindless repetitive manner. For example just going to church every time the doors are open does not make one a Christian. A conscionable effort to follow the teachings of Christ, putting into daily practice those great moral teachings and believing that he was the son of God, are necessary prerequisites.

In the same respect, ritual and liturgy must be performed in a solemn serious manner with the participants making a conscionable effort to visualize the meaning that the particular events are representative thereof. This process then makes a change in the inner self - a connection to the spirit - a deeper communion so to speak in their mind with the hand of God.

Before one can make a conscionable effort to make changes in their inner self, their mind, it might prove useful to consider that the mind has several levels, the main ones being;

1. Gross mind
2. Subtle mind
3. Very subtle or root mind.

The gross mind is comparative to our waking mind while the subtle is similar to our dreaming mind. While the root might be compared to the mind of the soul and the very level we need to change to improve our connection to the Holy sprit.

While there are a number of manners in which we can make lasting changes in the root mind. The easiest is to understand the concepts of analytical and placement meditation. Using logical reasoning rather than depending upon our own moods, opinions, and attitudes, we generate a realization of an idea. Then we attempt to hold this visualization in our mind as long as possible. This process is often referred to analysis and placement, analysis of a need or desire and placement of that visualization in the root mind.

Symbolism and ritual or liturgy, are all intuitive experiences that also serve to transform the root mind. For example the symbolism exhibited in the movie "The Passion of Christ" invoked a deep spiritual connection in many viewers as the profound and in some cases extremely violent scenes of the movie became etched in the minds of viewers reminding them of the suffering and torment Christ endured during judgment and crucifixion. In the root minds of some of the viewers of the movie these visual symbols caused a deeper appreciation of what Christ endured in order to secure our salvation.

In our last essay, Adapting Ministry To Meet The Needs Of A Changing Culture we noted that many of our church leaders were slow to respond to the changing needs of the laity. In the case of non liturgical congregations where in some cases even religious icons are frowned upon as pagan devices, we are seeing people leave these groups in search of religious paths that offer a deeper, richer symbolism as they crave the connection to the spirit that symbolism, ritual and liturgy offer. Some, so "turned off" by the antics of the legalistic and prosperity gospel centered churches where some perceive message to be constantly weighted toward tithing and not to achieving spiritual connection, these left behind and disassociated congregants are even turning to personal study and home altars where they can perform ritual and liturgy on their own, developing a personal connection to the Sprit.

In future essays we will explore some of these rituals and the analytical and placement meditation or prayer necessary to make these acts fruitful.

30 December 2006

Rev Ed Crabtree


[an error occurred while processing this directive]	Part 4 ~Ritual And Liturgy, a part of Grail discovery? A Quest For The Holy Grail? In our previously essay Adapting Ministry To Meet The Needs Of A Changing Culture, part three of the series "A Quest For The Holy Grail" we explored how some church leaders and ministers were failing to provide instruction relative to the changing needs of a people that are a part of a changing culture. We touched on how we fail to provide the laity, "working tools" with which to focus their meditations and thereby develop a deeper understanding and connection to the divine. Tying a string around your finger to remind you of something is an act that has become somewhat of a cliché and has become a point of humor. The string does not perform any sort of act but only serves to remind you of something, and it is left up to your memory to remember what that something is that the string is to remind you of. In organizations such as the Masonic Fraternity, the various tools of operative stonemasons are used to symbolically remind the Brother of great moral teachings, and if the Brother takes the practice seriously, as he goes through his day he is reminded of these teachings. An operative stone mason uses the trowel to spread cement, the square to square his work, the level and plumb to erect perfect horizontal and vertical surfaces, and the twenty four inch ruler to measure his work. The speculative Mason is reminded on a subliminal level by these tools moral teachings and should reflect on his actions always doing that which is "good work which is square and plumb," For the non mason who has wondered the purpose of these various symbols, it shouldn't take too much imagination to ascertain the hidden meaning of these "secrets" of the fraternity. No doubt you are reading this essay on a computer, and the system by which you "interface" or interact with the computer is called a Graphical User Interface or the more common acronym, GUI (pronounced "gu-ee.") This system of symbols or icons comprises a method by which we can command the computer to perform its various tasks by "clicking" on a button or other icon. For instance most of know that when we see a icon that looks like a miniature graphical representation of a printer, should we click on that icon, the computer will send a command to our printer to reproduce the page we are viewing. In the same respect, when a member of a fraternity, such as the Masons as we discussed in the previous paragraph, see a Masonic Icon, the initiated member knows the meaning of that particular symbol and is reminded of the corresponding great moral teaching. In the Christian faith we have the same system, such as the cross. When we see it we should be reminded of the cross of Christ, and the gift he gave to us upon that cross. Of course there are countless other icons within the Christian faith, each reminding us or teaching us of an important facet of our faith. We also have rituals within the Christian faith just as certain fraternal organizations do. Baptisms, Holy Communion, and other rituals play an important part in our religion as well as our spirituality. Rituals and liturgy, a structured form of worship act upon our conscious mind so as to set the religious experience or act apart from other acts and experiences in our routine lives. This science of using ritual and liturgy to disconnect us from the mundane life and to connect us to God through our spirituality enables some to focus their meditation and concentration so as to be the better enabled to connect to the sprit. Just as "GUIes" (Graphical User Interface[s]) enable us to more readily interact with our computers, religious icons, ritual and liturgy CAN enable some people to more efficiently interact with their spirituality. These acts and symbols become aids to the process of visualization and meditation, important aspects of connecting to the Holy Sprit. It is important to note that just including a religious icon in one's home as a decorative accessory, does not constitute an immediate connection to the Holy Sprit. Nor does participation in ritual or liturgy performed in a mindless repetitive manner. For example just going to church every time the doors are open does not make one a Christian. A conscionable effort to follow the teachings of Christ, putting into daily practice those great moral teachings and believing that he was the son of God, are necessary prerequisites. In the same respect, ritual and liturgy must be performed in a solemn serious manner with the participants making a conscionable effort to visualize the meaning that the particular events are representative thereof. This process then makes a change in the inner self - a connection to the spirit - a deeper communion so to speak in their mind with the hand of God. Before one can make a conscionable effort to make changes in their inner self, their mind, it might prove useful to consider that the mind has several levels, the main ones being; 1. Gross mind 2. Subtle mind 3. Very subtle or root mind. The gross mind is comparative to our waking mind while the subtle is similar to our dreaming mind. While the root might be compared to the mind of the soul and the very level we need to change to improve our connection to the Holy sprit. While there are a number of manners in which we can make lasting changes in the root mind. The easiest is to understand the concepts of analytical and placement meditation. Using logical reasoning rather than depending upon our own moods, opinions, and attitudes, we generate a realization of an idea. Then we attempt to hold this visualization in our mind as long as possible. This process is often referred to analysis and placement, analysis of a need or desire and placement of that visualization in the root mind. Symbolism and ritual or liturgy, are all intuitive experiences that also serve to transform the root mind. For example the symbolism exhibited in the movie "The Passion of Christ" invoked a deep spiritual connection in many viewers as the profound and in some cases extremely violent scenes of the movie became etched in the minds of viewers reminding them of the suffering and torment Christ endured during judgment and crucifixion. In the root minds of some of the viewers of the movie these visual symbols caused a deeper appreciation of what Christ endured in order to secure our salvation. In our last essay, *Adapting Ministry To Meet The Needs Of A Changing Culture* we noted that many of our church leaders were slow to respond to the changing needs of the laity. In the case of non liturgical congregations where in some cases even religious icons are frowned upon as pagan devices, we are seeing people leave these groups in search of religious paths that offer a deeper, richer symbolism as they crave the connection to the spirit that symbolism, ritual and liturgy offer. Some, so "turned off" by the antics of the legalistic and prosperity gospel centered churches where some perceive message to be constantly weighted toward tithing and not to achieving spiritual connection, these left behind and disassociated congregants are even turning to personal study and home altars where they can perform ritual and liturgy on their own, developing a personal connection to the Sprit. In future essays we will explore some of these rituals and the analytical and placement meditation or prayer necessary to make these acts fruitful. 30 December 2006 Rev Ed Crabtree
The Lighthouse On The Corner Ministries P.O. Box 924 ~ Nixa Missouri ~ 65714-0924