I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of finding rhythms, and of the important balance between rhythm and spontaneity. Today I thought I’d bring you some of the inspiring thoughts of urban theologian Paul Grant:

...Rhythm and Ritual. The two words have essentially the same idea behind them. Both describe an event, or pattern of events, which happen at regular intervals in order to facilitate something bigger to happen. Rhythm is usually heard in a musical context and ritual in a religious context, but it seems to me the word ritual has very negative connotations, and that actually what we are trying to achieve as Christians is not Ritual, but Rhythm.

Rhythm is organic, it is natural. Without rhythm, the orchestra will not play beautiful music. Without rhythm, the dancer cannot stay in time. Without rhythm, the farmer doesn't know when to sow and when to harvest. Rhythm is breathing and heartbeats. It is sunrise and sunset. Rhythm is seasons and rainfall. Rhythm is beauty and growth. When we tune into God, when we dance to his rhythm, we grow. When we breathe in and breathe out in holy rhythm, we discover God...

...This is what it is like for us and God. God has set the beat. We may all respond to the rhythm in different ways. Some of us may decide that our beat might be to pray three times daily. Some of us might want to spend half an hour singing to God every day. We need to find out for ourselves how we can engage with God, when we do that, we contribute to the great holy rhythm and we grow with God.

Ritual is what happens when we forget why we are doing something; when the thing that we are doing becomes the reason for doing it. Do you come to church on a Sunday? Why? Do you come to YF on a Sunday night? Why? Do you read your bible, or pray or sing? Why? When we lose our motivation, when we do something because that's what we've always done, or because we think we should, or because someone else tells us we should, our actions become empty ritual. God doesn't want ritual. God created us to dance.

Thanks, Paul.