[betty boop]

There must be something about ritual and liturgy that is inherently anti-literal.

Indeed there is, ZC -- IMHO. There is (among other things) a reminder to us that man must not "reduce" God, man, or creation to purely human categories of thought, which strip Spirit out of the picture entirely. And a reminder that faith is not unreasonable; that faith and reason go together, though (inevitably) faith is the senior partner.

And when you speak of something as being "literal," you can only be speaking of words. Need I point out that words are, in essence, merely pointers to aspects of reality, and not the reality itself?

In the Beginning, God created Heaven and the earth. To seek your truth only on the "earthly side" -- which of course is the only part that is susceptible to sense perception and experimental test -- is to lose the Truth of reality.

The Creation is matter and Spirit....

Or so it seems to me. FWIW.

[Alamo-Girl]

In the Beginning, God created Heaven and the earth. To seek your truth only on the "earthly side" -- which of course is the only part that is susceptible to sense perception and experimental test -- is to lose the Truth of reality.

The Creation is matter and Spirit....

Precisely so! Thank you so much for sharing your insights, dearest sister in Christ!