What’s Your Liturgy?

If you come from an unchurched or even an evangelical background, the notion of liturgy may be foreign to you. It was to me throughout most of my childhood and young adulthood. And for many years, I thought liturgy was a negative thing until I realized that God is all about liturgy when that liturgy is engaged with the whole heart.

Liturgy is “a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship,” or “a customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances.” In turn, a rite is “a religious or other solemn ceremony or act,” but also simply “a social custom, practice, or conventional act.” The Bible is filled with liturgy.

I mistakenly thought that liturgy was bad because it is by nature repetitive; I assumed somehow that where spiritual living is concerned, everything needs to be organic and spontaneous. I used to like to use the word “fresh.” I knew people who never recited the Lord’s Prayer because they considered it useful only as a model for how to pray, one that provides a formula that goes something like honor + thanksgiving + repentance +petitioning = prayer. It occurred to me at some point that perhaps it’s simply okay to pray the Lord’s Prayer word-for-word if you want to. God doesn’t need all our worship to be original and different from moment to moment. As Scripture says, “The Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV).

I couldn’t tell you when my view of liturgy began to change, but I think it had something to do with experiencing a lack of sacraments in church. I began to recognize that there can be comfort in repeating familiar pieces of worship, from observing the Lord’s Supper to singing well-loved worship songs to reciting psalms. I don’t want the Eucharist once a year–I want it weekly. And I don’t want to learn a new worship song every Sunday–I want to sing familiar words that stir my soul.

Even my five-year-old recognizes that there is great peace and comfort in being able to recite the Lord’s Prayer before she goes to sleep on nights when the words necessary to form her own unique prayer don’t come easily. One night, after a weeklong string of Lord’s Prayer bedtime recitations, I asked her why it seemed to be her preference lately. She yawned and said, “Because it says it all, Mom. I can’t do better than the Our Father.”

We humans are lovers of rhythm and repetition because our Creator clearly loves rhythm and repetition. God’s love of liturgy is reflected in the rhythms of the earth, from the rising and setting of the sun to the ocean tides and the turning of the seasons. It is reflected in the Sabbath, in Jesus’s command to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19 NIV).

Whether you think you are a liturgical being or not, you are. You may be in denial, imagining yourself a wildflower in the wind, but I’m confident the love of liturgy is somewhere inside you. We all have our things, from morning coffee to the afternoon run we can’t miss to our weekly date with the TV to watch our favorite show. My family has Friday morning donuts. In fact, when we lose hold of our rhythms and routines, we tend to feel off. (Be honest here: does a weekend spent binge-watching The Crown leave you feeling energized and balanced, or foggy and disoriented?) It’s true, of course, that we can engage in habits and patterns that are unhealthy. We need good rhythms in place, routines that anchor us and help us face true north in the midst of challenges and difficulties. This is why “survival mode” often means doing the basics; simply moving through our routines during a season of grief or loss is what keeps us on our feet.

The daily liturgies of our lives anchor us, and the liturgies of the faith can anchor us spiritually in the same way. Morning quiet times, gratitude journals, bedtime prayers with our children, Sunday dinner, family Bible reading–all of these count as liturgies. More traditional forms include fixed-hour prayer, practicing the daily examen, and lectio divina. Whatever spiritual practices you repeat in a rhythmic fashion are liturgies. They may or may not happen in church, but if they help you return to the presence of the Lord, they are no doubt doing what they were intended to do.

The question is not, then, whether you are a liturgical being. The question is, what’s your liturgy? Is it cultural or spiritual? Is it Netflix? Is it shopping? Is it morning coffee? Is it morning prayer? Do your spiritual and cultural liturgies at least bear equal weight in your life?

Harmony Harkema has loved the written word for as long as she can remember. A former English teacher turned editor, she has spent the past nine years in the publishing industry. A writer herself in the fringe hours of her working-and-homeschooling mom life, Harmony also has a heart for leading and coaching aspiring writers. Harmony lives in Memphis with her husband and two small daughters. She blogs at harmonyharkema.com.

Photograph © Raw Pixel, used with permission