End Of Day Ritual

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

—Psalm 113:3

Working from home is wonderful in many ways, but there’s no commute at the end of the day to let the mind unwind. I’ve had to create my own ritual to mark the end of the work day and the beginning of the family evening.

I close my laptop, and I go to the kitchen. The first step, always: set out the knife and the cutting board. I can feel my stress level sinking already, my shoulders climbing down from my neck little by little. A swirl of oil into a pan, and while it begins to shimmer and thin, a quick rough chop of an onion. By the time the onion is on its way and the vinaigrette is made, I can feel the tension of the day slipping off my shoulders. These moments are some of the sweetest of my day, moments that are about texture and heat, knife and aroma.

God made a world of extraordinary beauty, and sometimes the most important thing we can do is slow ourselves down enough to see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, enter into it. When I stand before the cutting board, knife in hand, it’s just another way, really, of praying.