Some Thoughts About Habits, Rituals And Mediocrity

An elderly teacher, with a pupil by his side, took a walk through a forest. Suddenly he stopped and pointed to four plants. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was a full sized tree. The tutor said to his young companion, “Pull up the first plant.” The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers. “Now pull up the second.” The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult. “Do the same with the third,” he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it. “Now,” said the instructor, “try your hand with the fourth.” The pupil put his arms around the trunk of the tall tree and couldn't even shake its leaves. “This, my son, is just what happens with our habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but when they are old, it's hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely.”

All of us are creatures of habit. Through the years, through frequent repetition we do, behave and think in habitual ways usually without even thinking about why.

Another word that is closely related to the word habit is the word ritual…. a detailed method of procedure faithfully or regularly followed. And what is so interesting is to observe how much we are controlled by rituals and habit.

Every morning I imagine that all of us have a habit and ritual in how we get dressed. Men will shave in the same way. Women will put makeup on with the same procedure that they have used every day. We clean things in a certain way. We drive places the same way. We do church habitually and ritually. Then when that doesn’t occur we feel uncomfortable and awkward. No one has to tell us how to do these things or what comes next. Robotic…. going through the motions are good descriptive words.

However the problem that often presents itself is that rituals and habits impact more important areas of our lives and not just our actions. For example in our spiritual lives many times we can go through the motions and don’t give much thought to what we are doing. We just do it out of habit and ritual. A spirit of mediocrity settles in. We just do things. We get by. This is something that we must seriously consider and guard against.

Years ago when the western states were being settled, roads were often just wagon tracks. These rough trails posed serious problems for those who journeyed on them. On one of these winding paths it is said there was posted a sign which read: “Avoid this rut or you'll be in it for the next 25 miles!”

The point is clear. Habits and rituals can be good because they provide continuity and some sense of security to our lives. However when habits and rituals begin to impact the more serious aspects of our lives, mediocrity becomes the norm. Excellence is unknown. And with that the sense of our adventure with Abba Father in our life journey is lost. Sad.