Morning Ritual of Oatmeal

In my religious life in the past, I was never one to cling to ritual.  In the churches I attended, I sometimes admired the words spoken, songs sung and repetitious motions of stand-sit-kneel for the unison they created among participants, but never really found anything truly sacred in them.

This morning, however, I realized that I have fallen into a pattern of activity that has become a fairly spiritual ritual.  It helps me set the mood and build the foundation for my day and, although there are occasional variations, it goes something like this:

Alarm goes off at 5:00 am.  Hit the snooze button once or twice.
Let the dog out.
Grab my little oatmeal pot (yes, I have a pot that I use only for this ritual) and place it on the stove.  Set burner to medium heat.
Add the critical oatmeal ingredients:  One cup of skim milk, one cup of steel cut oats, one cup of frozen blueberries, pinch of salt.
Let the dog back in and, if the weather's not too hot or cold, leave the door open so that only the screen door is between me and the outdoors.
Sit on the couch for a while, check my email, log into facebook, feed the tortoises and geckos and, recently, work on my blog entries.
Fill a bottle of water from the filtration system to be used for drinking throughout the day.
Wait for the oatmeal to start to bubble.
Pour the oatmeal in a bowl, add splenda.
Turn on the kitchen faucet, grab my little pot scrubber and wash my little oatmeal pot by hand, making sure to run my scrubber over the entire pot, but then using my fingers to rub a little ring around the bottom of the little pot where the little pot scrubber sometimes misses a little milk and oatmeal.
Place my oatmeal pot in its place, next to the sink.
Grab a paper towel to use as a napkin.
Sit on the couch and eat my oatmeal, listening to the sounds of the breeze and birds and watch the cat, watching the birds and licking his paws.

From this point, my ritual, depending on the day, involves getting ready for work, prepping for a bicycle ride, or sometimes even going back to bed.

I find that this part of my day continues to grow increasingly important to me.  Although I have a yoga practice and sit zazen almost every night before bed, this morning ritual, when I do it mindfully, is more meaningful than any genuflecting, incense, song, or recitation from any church I've attended.  Not to mention that oatmeal is really good for you...