Spiritual Practices: Routine or Rut?

What is the difference between a routine and a rut? Is the series of actions that you are currently undertaking a routine or a rut?

There is something in all of us that seeks to organize our time. For some of us, that organization is necessary to move us through a busy and demanding schedule. For others, the organization serves more as an assurance that time is actually moving rather than standing still. Organization is a way of marking time.

But have you organized your time into a routine or a rut? A routine is a way of organizing time that opens up possibilities. A rut is a way of organizing time that closes off possibilities and the need to make decisions.

The words you are reading are black and white, but life is rarely so clear and contrasted. Not all routines are positive and not all ruts are negatives. What may seem to you like a pleasant routine may seem to the person waiting for you to get ready to do something like an annoying rut. And what seems like a dull rut to you may seem like an oasis of calm safety to the next person.

Let’s poke into the gray areas or shadows by focusing on a specific set of routines and ruts. Just because this is what got me to thinking about routines and ruts, let’s focus on spirituality. It has been proved that religious people live longer, happier lives. How happy that long life will be may well depend upon whether your spiritual practices are a routine or a rut.

There is a spectrum of spiritual attitudes that runs something like this:

Couldn’t care less>spiritual but not religious>nominallyreligious>

fervently religious>religious but not spiritual>fanatically religious

Unless you honestly find yourself at the “couldn’t care less” end of the spectrum, you should have some sort of spiritual practice. This could be as simple as attending church on Christmas Eve and Easter, or attending your synagogue or temple on High Holy Days, or fasting during Ramadan. Or it could be more complex: daily prayers, regular attendance, financial support. Or it could be more personal: devotional practices, meditation, prayers, yoga, tai chi, spiritual guidance, etc.

Wherever your practice, is it a spiritual routine or a spiritual rut?

Of course, I can’t answer that questions for you. But I can give you some clues to help you think about it.

Are your spiritual practices a refuge or a prison for your soul?

After completing your spiritual practices, do you feel a sense of awe or do you feel like you’ve got God in a box?

Does your spiritual practice open you up to possibilities of positive interaction with the Divine, with yourself, and with others? Or does it close you off?

Do your spiritual practices make you feel good about yourself, or bad? Do you come away from your spiritual practice refreshed and hopeful or do you come away depressed, angry, saddened?

Do your spiritual practices encourage you to strive to improve yourself and the world around you? Or do your spiritual practices leave you feeling self-satisfied and ready to consign the rest of the world to hell in a hand basket?

As you may have guessed, I have a bias.

I would hope that your spiritual practices (as well as mine) are a meaningful routine rather than a barren rut.

I do have a word of caution, though. Spiritual routines become ruts when they are so unchanging that you can engage in them mindlessly. You need to allow room in your spiritual life for new inspiration and insights, for the “accidental mindfulness” that can enrich your practice and your life.

I came up with a little prayer of intentionality as a result of “accidental mindfulness”. I’d like to share it with you in closing (Imagine Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” playing in the background):

God of the Cosmos, Source of universal meaning and purpose, Power of eternal love: You have created a wonderful world. You have created me in your image. Therefore, I am more beautiful, wonderful and powerful than I ever imagined! Now that I understand that, I choose to honor You in me and reflect your love, wisdom, power, and grace in my life. Amen.