observing cultural liturgies

People dressed up in specific attire—red bottoms and black tops, some with roses as well
Processing into the same direction
A large gathering place, imposing to the eye

They are there for one particular thing
Not a thing actually, but a person
What the whole gathering is for

But there is an order to things, to build up to it
It is a repeatable order, where predetermined activities take place prior
There are other people, other words said, other actions taken

This is all and good
A preparation, if you will, for the main event
The climax

And then it begins
The crowd is ecstatic
The very person, in flesh and bone!
Not a figment of the imagination
But here, present

They sing together, they shout
They move, they dance
It feels like in these acts of participation they are all truly one, together—complete and whole

Mind you, this takes place over a few hours
Spots need to be purchased, often at no small cost
And prior planning and preparation on the part of the attendee

Other shared customs may also transpire:
Celebrating with a feast and drinks with friends beforehand
Relistening to the things the person has said—often the words have already been memorized, and this is just an act of both remembering and yet also building anticipation for what is promised to come

Reader, I ask you: is this not a liturgy?

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some context

In this short piece, wanted to provide a small contextual blurb!

This is a reflection on some of the stuff James K.A. Smith talks about in his first volume of his Cultural Liturgies series (the book is called Desiring the Kingdom) and the prevalence of liturgies all around us. It just so happened that I was out and saw some of this going on, and I couldn’t help but chuckle a little as I imagined Smith’s example of some alien explorer visiting at this very moment and observing what was going on.

Another aside, I am almost finished reading the book, but apparently a second edition is coming out this year that is substantially revised from the first one that I have read! So might have to pick that one up as well.