The Rituals of Our Lives

 After I had posted my blog on Mother’s Day, I received another gift. This one comes every year like clockwork: a dozen lovely flowers!  

Tony takes my photo to serve as our receipt for this bundle of beauties.   

This year, however, this gift—from son #2, his wife, and son in the US—is extra special. Amidst the  chaotic pandemic, this annual ritual makes everything seem normal. It affirms the relationships we value; they do not change with any crisis. 

I borrowed my blog title from Robert Fulghum’s book From Beginning to End because this annual gift does not only mark time; it creates time. Rituals particularly interest me because one college course that I taught, Consumer Behaviour, proved that most purchasing activities are for rituals. 

If I added the numbers of all our holiday observances (Easter, Christmas, Independence Day, etc.), family gatherings (births, anniversaries, graduations, weddings, reunions, etc.), and all the commemorative dates (World Health Day, Down Syndrome Day, etc.), the sum would be more than half a year! Think of all the goods bought on those days. 

Undoubtedly, rituals are essential, whether for pleasure, for dealing with pain, for peace during uncertainty, or for building stronger faith in God’s grace. 

Rituals become even more significant because of their artefacts: toga for graduation; bouquet for weddings; champagne for victory; fireworks on New ear’s eve, etc.  

For me, artefacts are a dozen flowers on Mother’s Day!  

Robert Fulghum deepened the meaning of rituals when he wrote, “Rituals do not always involve words, occasions, officials, or an audience. Rituals are often silent, solitary, and self-contained. The most powerful . . . are reflective—when you look back on your life again and again, paying attention to the rivers you have crossed and the gates you have opened and walked on through, the thresholds you have passed over . . .” 

Writing this post has been one such ritual.