I have to confess: I have a love/hate relationship with tradition and ritual practices. Just think of the liturgy in our worship services, or even the practice of prayer. Some days, I love it. And yet, other days it feels “dry.” I “understand” its purpose, and at the same time, I also understand (and sometimes relate) when its labeled as archaic or “unrelatable.”
Perhaps you’re on one end of the spectrum or the other. Or, perhaps like myself, you’ve found yourself waffling throughout your spiritual journey in regards to the merit of doing the same thing…over and over and over again.
But as I read our Old Testament Scripture passage from this past Sunday, I couldn’t help but think that, for the Israelites, the same ol’ thing – given every single day – was actually pretty exciting. Each and every day, the Lord sent quails in the evening and manna in the morning. It was like clockwork: at a specific time, and only a given amount. But in the rhythm, and in the ritual, God met the Israelites where they were at, and God provided what they needed.
So connecting this story to the rhythms and rituals we take on as a part of our spiritual practices, there may be weeks – or days – where the Sunday morning liturgy seems like “the same ol’ thing.” And, there may be weeks – or days – where the practice of prayer seems “dry.” But in the repetition, just as God met the Israelites where they were at and provided what they needed, God continues to meet us where we are, filling us with the only bread that truly satisfies.
So if your spiritual practices – intended to draw you into relationship with God and with one another – seem a bit static or dry these days, consider how God might be trying to do something really exciting through that seemingly dry practice. Because though the practice, and even the provision of God’s abundance, might seemingly be “the same ol’ thing” that’s given time and time again, it’s that “same ol’ thing” that is actually exciting, and is actually life-giving.