I contend that for a religious
ritual to be “alive” is for it to be responsive to spiritual truths as they are
played out by or among the people who have gathered even just as spectators rather
than participants. In liturgy, the readings and the ritual itself can stimulate
a spiritual state of mind (un état de l’esprit—this last word alone signifying
the connection), which in turn can even unconsciously prompt conduct that can
be observed to be religious (or spiritual) in nature. For a ritual to be alive
is for it to incorporate such conduct in order to draw attention to the
underlying religious truth manifesting in one or more persons. The antagonist
in this drama is the strict literalist who goes inflexibly by the letter of the
ritual’s laws rather than the spirit thereof, ignoring that only the spirit
rises and thus is capable of lifting humans in general and in a liturgical
context in particular.
The full essay is at "Living Ritual."
