Ritual vs. Routine

By Hollie Wells

Between General Conferences, I try to read or listen to every talk at least once through before the next conference. I had an incredibly busy summer, and it came to about August when I realized I had been neglecting my goal and had not picked up a conference talk in several weeks. I also had been feeling a void in my life and gospel study, and it was no surprise to me that I felt that hole filled when I listened to a talk on a morning walk. 

The talk I had left off on was “My Love for the Savior Is My ‘Why’” by Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez. This talk deeply touched me and I felt that his teachings applied in so many aspects of my life at that time. My life has recently changed a lot as I graduated college and moved to a new city. 

Although the summer was busy, I now had no plans other than to live my days as a stay-at-home-mother: a plan I chose and am elated to have. So my days started to feel very routine. Wake up, go for a walk, make meals, clean up, play, wait for my husband to get home, etc. This leaked into my worship. The habitual way I was living my life made its way into how I attended church and the temple. I know I am not alone in having experienced this. I am glad I heard this talk because it woke me up. 

In the church, and especially in the temple, we have many rituals. Rituals by nature are the same every time. After you’ve been to the temple, you know exactly what to expect and besides the few prophetic changes we experience from time to time, everything we do will be the same. The sacrament is the same each week. Sacrament meeting and our second hour meetings follow the same basic outline and program. 

So, what can we do when our rituals start to feel routine? 

We must do as Elder Gimenez encourages, and make Jesus Christ our “why.” He encourages us to “link everything we do” to our love for Him. Without this charity, our worship– and even our day-to-day lives– become hollow. How we interact with our neighbors is hollow. 

If the temple or any other ordinances feel routine to you, ask yourself why you do them. Imbue these repeated and sometimes rote actions with your love and testimony of Christ! Think of Him and it will never be just routine.