Observance, if not necessarily piety, is on the rise, as Islam becomes for many the cornerstone of identity.
In an early law of Constantine, priests and public soothsayers of Rome were prohibited entry to private houses; but another law, of 320 or 321, calls for their recital of prayer "in the manner of ancient observance" if the imperial palace or any other public building were struck by lightning.
Children learn first and primarily through observance; if you tell your children to treat everyone with respect then yell at a cashier for taking too long to scan your groceries, your children will remember what you do rather than what you say.
Whereas in Europe or America, connections depend on where people grew up or studied, in Israel what counts is the army unit they served in, their rank in the reserves, their degree of religious observance, and especially if not born in Israel their background (those of Russian, Georgian, Central Asian, North African or Middle Eastern descent are particularly tight-knit).
The author also discusses the Panchin et al. proposal as if it were trying to explain religion or religious observance in general whereas they specifically denied this?
He decided to conduct a more extensive poll to see if observance had since returned to its previous level.
Sixteen contingents, to show their sympathy with, if not observance of, the American boycott did not join the parade.
Above West Fourth Street, and south of Carmine, one might as well be in an entirely different neighborhood; the pornography, the fast food and the clusters of merrymakers all disappear, as if in observance of an invisible boundary.
They involve avoidance of unnecessary travel, of harmful activities, and of the pursuit of pleasure; fasting and control of diet; offering gifts and service to monks, the poor, and fellow believers; and voluntary death if the observance of the major vows proves impossible.
But don't you go telling any of them I said that.' In Catholic circles, this is known as grace through observance - the conviction that, if you go through the motions long enough, you'll eventually develop faith.
In fact, Louise was Episcopalian — it was Spencer who was Catholic, if limited in observance to playing priests and racking up guilt.
