Baths and Stars: How Simple Ritual Creates Separate Space
By Adam Fitzpatrick
Working as a campus minister can be time consuming and demanding trying to serve the needs of all Gd’s people1. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of programming and need that comes
through an office on a daily basis. I have found myself overwhelmed by the amount of situations I have to
engage, as a whole in my office setting. In graduate school, I was able to solve problems to some degree
by knowing the material and thinking to engage answers. Larger problems seemed very solvable. However,
in ministry, many theological ideas, which seem easy to solve or at least engage in, writing papers and
studying for tests are not as easily engaged in practice. People do not work like a logic puzzle where if you
solve for x, y, and z emotional and psychological situations you will be able to reach the heart and soul of
others. This inability to solve my life by thinking is a hard transition. This transition on top of the hours I
work as a campus minister creates a potential situation of burnout and exhaustion. Thus, to prevent
burnout and exhaustion there needs to be some space where the stresses and intensity of work are
separate from the field of rest. This article is meant to be a guide for others to find their own relaxation
techniques to ritually separate the work space and the home space, even if one lives at their work site, as
I do.
Ritual is a powerful influence in our lives. Our Catholic community is strengthened by common
participation in the ritual of Mass and other forms of liturgical prayer. Our Christian habit of prayer is a
community building habit with both G-d and neighbor. The ritual of Mass in particular keeps the Catholic
community together and gives all its participants a common identity in the sacraments which leads to
greater solidarity with the world. The rituals of Mass and prayer also prepare people for certain events in
the Church. Currently, we are in the Easter season and we use the color white in liturgy to connect us to
the Resurrection of Christ. Also, the Scriptures we pray remind us of the witness of the Resurrected
Christ and the initial communities that spread the Good News of the Resurrection. The Church is
prepared and engaged in the reality of the Resurrection by the rituals we have utilized.
Ritual also works in an individual sense as well. Individual habits of getting ready in the morning or
preparing for bed are rituals that teach and prepare people for a certain event. This preparation is
important as it sets the mood for a person to act in a way that they need to act. For example, my
morning shower helps prepare me for a day of work and acts as a boost to realize that I have to be
attentive and ready to serve all who come through my door. In other words, my shower creates a habit
forming pattern just as the influence of liturgy does for the greater community. This pattern is important
as I tend to be slow to get up in the morning for work.
However, once I am ready to serve the community I am a high energy person, which helps me engage the
various needs of my college campus. As with every campus minister, my schedule is busy and I work
sometimes unpredictable hours. Thus, it becomes hard to establish a ritual pattern of normalcy for
creating stability and habit in a day or a week. Even though people can adapt well, the hours of being a
campus minister still require special treatment in order to create the ritual space to slow a person down
after a day of work that may end at 8 p.m., 10 p.m., midnight, or even later.
___________________________
G-d is a term in this paper signifying God. The o is omitted as everyone has an idea or image of what God means. Removing the o
emphasizes that G-d is greater than any image and that ultimately G-d is a mystery that encompasses all of our lives. Jean-Luc Marion
in his book, God Without Being, uses a strikeout o to emphasize this mystery. I have adapted the hyphen as an idea from my girlfriend,
Olivia from her experience at Music Ministry Alive, where they use the hyphen to emphasize G-d’s transcendence.
Let me start with an example of not doing self-care well before I show what I have done to improve my
self-care.
There are many days after work where I want to clear my mind. I have a very fulfilling job but I also want
to create separation in my life so I can continue to serve my students daily as I can become exhausted
from working. At the end of the work day, I would sit down in my room and start to play video games. I
enjoy my video games but over time I was finding that this did not relax me like I wanted. My brain just
kept going about things happening with work, or the Church, or other social issues and it was hard to
rest. This happened because I went straight from work, a high intensity situation, to playing video games,
another exercise using mental stimulation with no intermediary break or rhythm change. I did not create
any rhythm of rest so it became hard to sleep and wind down after work. This also made me less effective
at work because not getting enough sleep made it harder to function at my full capacity. I overloaded my
mind trying to distract myself from thinking about work and faith issues.
My situation above is an example of what not to do as it continues to contribute to an overactive mind.
The activity itself is not a problem but there is no ritual break between work time and rest time. The key
part of a behavior that favors self-care is to insert a period of rest between work and my leisure activities.
It’s also important to pick activities that symbolize peace. I have always had a particular liking of wind and
water. Wind reminds me of the breath of the Spirit, which breathes life, and water helps me feel renewed
and rested. It is important for everyone to reflect on what particular things bring G-d’s presence of peace.
My example of self-care after work is to take a nice reflective walk past the graveyard at Mount Marty
before I return to my room. South Dakota constantly has wind, and the stars are a nice backdrop to set a
change in mood for an evening of relaxing. Then before bed I take time to have a bath where I can have
some meditative time. Water is a good backdrop for meditation and prayer as it is reminiscent of the
sacrament of baptism and G-d’s presence.
Self-care is an absolutely essential practice for good ministry. Good self-care requires reflective
knowledge of oneself to know what evokes rest and G-d’s presence to bring peace. Everyone’s self-care is
unique. What works for my self-care will not resonate with everyone’s situation or sentiments.
Awareness of one’s unique self-care needs will foster growth and spiritual development as well as prevent
becoming fatigued or dissatisfied with one’s work. This awareness of the need for self-care also enables
people to care about all of the other responsibilities that come outside of work, such as family life. Good
self-care is also aided by our Catholic sense of ritual and its importance in forming our communities and
ourselves. By implementing similar ideas about ritual forming our individual lives and habits we can
connect ourselves to a stable rhythm of care for ourselves that enables us to serve others.
About the Author
Adam Fitzpatrick is the Assistant Director of Campus Ministry at Mount Marty College. He recently graduated
from Saint John’s School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota, with a Master of Arts in Systematic Theology.
Adam’s approach to ministry is a philosophical approach that engages the deep mystery of each person. This
approach allows for a deep level of service and commitment to the needs of others because it resists judgment and
allows room for letting each person grow. Please contact Adam with your comments at
adam.fitzpatrick@mtmc.edu.