RITUAL JUSTICE

WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING SERMONS for church or articles for magazines, the holidays are, at first glance, the easiest time of year.

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OGUN HOLDER is an ordained Unity minister, certified spiritual coach, teacher, and podcaster. He is the author of Rants to Revelations and is also the cofounder of an online spiritual community called project SANCTUS (projectsanctus.​com). Visit revogunholder.​com.

We know what we're going to be talking and writing about: gratitude, Advent, Christmas, Hanukkah, end-of-year reflections, and New Year's resolutions and intentions. Other faith traditions besides Christianity and Judaism also have major observances this time of year. Buddhists commemorate Bodhi Day, the day when Siddhartha Gautama is said to have achieved enlightenment. Wiccans and neo-pagans celebrate the winter solstice through the Yule festival. Zoroastrians honor the death of their founder and prophet, Zoroaster.

It only takes a few years for new clergy and faith leaders to realize that there are only so many ways to tell holiday stories and illustrate teachings before they start to sound and feel repetitive. Times like these are when ritual matters most. More than words can ever do, rituals take their participants from thought to feeling, from head to heart, from mind to body. Rituals also build and fortify community, giving participants a deeper sense of connection with each other and to something bigger than themselves.

So whether it’s gathering for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, lighting a menorah, playing dreidel, decorating a tree, exchanging gifts, singing carols, chanting sutras, burning a Yule log, or attending services, we look forward to holiday rituals like these that make this repetitive time of year more meaningful.