There is a desire in all of us to worship and revere something, yet a thousand things compete every day for the attention that longing deserves. Deep reflection, in solitude and even in silence, can connect us to the very power that put us here. We were built to look up. Most of us just forgot how somewhere along the way.
Not Religion, but Ritual
I go to church. But I also look into the eyes of beautiful people. I notice how the moon is a little different every single night. The seasons inspire me, and the mountains mentor a heart that still needs some mending. I will be honest with you. I am not even the biggest fan of religion as an institution. But I am a fan of ritual, the small repeated acts that quietly reconnect a man to something far bigger than himself.
So as a new season arrives, I hope you will continue or begin some rituals that connect you to invisible power and purpose. Go back to the moments when you felt most spiritually alive, and return to the actions that produced that feeling. For me, that is looking into the hazy horizon by day and the star spangled sky at night. It is listening to some great music, thinking about people I love and miss, forgiving, creating, writing, and learning to love myself.
What If You Could?
And what if you could? What if you could actually love yourself, your scars, your crooked features, your scrawny biceps, the hair you are always trying to remove? What if you could appreciate simple things, like the warmth of the walls around you and the way light bends around a corner? What if there were so much love in you that even in a moment of offense, you could forgive someone in the very act of being hurt by them?
What if you could see divinity in ordinary people, and believe you are no less remarkable than the sun, the rivers, or the endless beaches? That you are grander than the Grand Canyon and greater than the Great Wall? If you could really believe that, you would be happy. Rituals of reverence remind you that you are made of something infinite and eternal. I know I am more than my body and my bills.
What if the answer to nearly everything is simply this. To respect. To appreciate. To revere. This is Reverence, one of the Red9, and it is not about being religious. It is about refusing to sleepwalk through a sacred life. So what are the rituals that help you feel that? Whatever they are, go do one today.