Theology Thursday 21 - Take Comfort In Rituals

rit▪u▪al: an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite.

Starbucks’ fall marketing campaign revolves around the phrase “Take comfort in rituals.” There are standees, like the one pictured, and signs all over Starbucks telling people to take comfort in rituals like pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin cream cheese muffins. It’s an ingenious marketing campaign that elevates Starbucks’ food and beverages to the level of religious rites.

I’m all for clever marketing and I do enjoy a nice pumpkin spice latte once in a while, but it feels like we’ve lost something when the rhythm of our rituals is defined by Starbucks instead of God. God commanded his people to fall in line with a rhythm of ritual.

Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. – Deuteronomy 16:16

God commanded his people to participate in three rituals of celebration throughout the year; he understood that it was necessary for humans to celebrate and reflect on the goodness of God. Without carving out the time necessary to reflect on God’s goodness, humanity could easily forget the source of all goodness and even claim responsibility for it themselves. Rituals allow us to create the space we need to acknowledge God’s provision and celebrate his goodness.

That’s all Starbucks is asking us to do, to reflect on the goodness of a pumpkin spice latte and the feelings of warmth that come from the autumnal season. If we are followers of Christ, though, we have much more to celebrate than a latte or warm fuzzy feelings. The God of the universe loves us, brought us back into relationship with him and now allows us to participate in his redemptive work in this world. And if we took the time to build in some rituals, to find some rhythms of celebration, then we’d be better able to recognize the goodness of that God and celebrate it with every breath we take.

In what rituals do you participate and why do they hold value?