the beauty of ceremony

did you know the brain is both pattern seeking and survival oriented?

most of us love order & predictable routines. when a young brain is provided a safe & structured environment, it develops a biochemical preference toward order. the same is true for the brain exposed to chaos... it learns and therefore creates chaos as a means for coping.

the wonderful news is that we can help children develop neural pathways through creating routines & ceremonies within our homes!

This atmosphere of known routine, expected ritual and, yes, celebrated ceremony, not only lessens the number of decisions that a parent must make throughout the day (the established ceremony directs, instead of the parent), but children thrive in such an environment....

...The institution of a ceremonious life requires daily petitions for God-strength; in the flesh we are too weak. But the mundane in our lives begs for the Christ-vigor to be made lovely with ceremony. The repetition of our days need not be monotonous, exasperating, recurrences....

i love this article & how God acts in ceremony with us each day!

read more about the beauty of ceremony by clicking here (this is one of my new favorite sites btw)

"They always say, "Do it again"… [It is] grown-up people [who] are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon…. The repetition in nature may not be mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore."