Reverence
Whether false idols or
a true god, I am
troubled by the idea of
worship.
Not because I am too good.
Not because I lack humility.
There is something
unthinking
in that word “worship.”
There is something
crudely objectifying, distancing
in the notion.
Worship! Such
connotations of limit.
Calling to mind the need
for knees that will bend,
for walls to contain
the sacred.
Better: acts of reverence,
acts of wonder.
An “Itadakimasu,” before that
which was alive becomes a
part of your life—the
great web of inti-
mate connections.
The purposeful peeling
of an orange;
the patient seeing of a banana
slug, in all its small
enormity and grace.
The recognition that,
among a myriad other things,
we are the process of
the universe being
conscious of the universe.
2 thoughts on “Reverence”
Inferred segregated, congregations utter mumbled numbed of meaning tired refrains into clasped hands with bowed heads.
Contrast…
Described deliberate, delicate and vivid humanistic homage bestowed to the intricacies of existence.
Does worship limit us from seeing all that is truly around us?
Does it buffer us by inserting a middle man?
If a child’s parents hand him everything he needs, he thanks them but does not appreciate all that is involved in the actual process of being provided for.
So, in this respect, I would say that yes, it does limit our awe.
But, worship is more than “Intadakimasu”.
Worship can provide a venue for needs to be satisfied in a manner unlike any other.
Worship is relief when suffering.
Worship is confession when burdened.
Worship is beseeching when desperate.
Worship is solitude when overcome.
Worship is rejoicing when happy.
It is an age old shout-out to the universe spoken without words.
Worship asks “I am here; are you?”
The answer may come by false idols a true god, or echoes of our own voice bouncing around in our head. But comfort is found if somewhere far off in the distance strained ears think they hear the word “Yes”.
We’d definitely rather experience the profound meaning of appreciation and communion rather than the groveling deference due to a Roman Emperor or Middle-Eastern patriarch, wouldn’t we? And not, I think, just because we prefer it that way, but because some of us see that that attitude is more true and right and real.