On the other hand

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, but today is the feast day of Saint Scholastica.

So, while I do not take back anything I said below and I believe all of it, it is also true to say that trying to impose order on the world via ritual is sort of like trying to make a coat of your pet wolf while keeping the meat kosher.

Saint Scholastica (for the non-Catholic or non-interested in saints) was the twin sister of Saint Benedict (who founded the Benedictine Order of monks and wrote a set of really obsessive rules for monastic living). The story goes that, because they were not allowed to visit each other in private -- that rule thing you see -- they met once a year in a house halfway between their respective monasteries. One year, Benedict prepared to leave before sunset. Scholastica asked him to stay a while and chat for the evening. Benedict refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away from the monastery.

Scholastica laid her head upon the table and prayed aloud. A sudden storm arose, with violent rain and hail in such a torrent that Benedict was unable to depart.

May Almighty God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done.""I asked a favor of you," Scholastica replied, "and you refused it. I asked it of God, and He has granted it!"

This is often taken as a fable about prayer. I personally think it is a fable about oh, some other things. But certainly amoung them is what the Big Guy really thinks about slavish compliance with rules.