What does worship mean?

[Runt]

I think the whole sacrifice the virgin to the volcano thing has died out.

Heh, yes... but there are plenty of folks who get on their knees to pray and tell God that they'll follow His commandments if He will help them ace their Biology test tomorrow...

The average churchgoer probably does want to get something from god rather then understand and know god.

Nod. Well, I wouldn't say "rather" so much as "and"...

 

[yossarian22]

Heh, yes... but there are plenty of folks who get on their knees to pray and tell God that they'll follow His commandments if He will help them ace their Biology test tomorrow...
Nod. Well, I wouldn't say "rather" so much as "and"...

Did they try sacrificing virgins to God to ace their test?
It worked for the Aztecs didn't it?
Wait, that didn't end so well...

 

[Runt]

Did they try sacrificing virgins to God to ace their test?
It worked for the Aztecs didn't it?
Wait, that didn't end so well...

Well no, probably not... unless it was a really important test.

Let's not forget, however, that there are folks today who would sacrifice themselves and others to God in a fiery death to get virgins...

 

[yossarian22]

Well no, probably not... unless it was a really important test.

Let's not forget, however, that there are folks today who would sacrifice themselves and others to God in a fiery death to get virgins...

Now if we told them that said virgins were sacrificed to the volcano, and the only way to get them back was to dive in, then the problem is solved! No nutjobs remain!

 

[Runt]

Now if we told them that said virgins were sacrificed to the volcano, and the only way to get them back was to dive in, then the problem is solved! No nutjobs remain!

Excellent!

Kay, it's officially time for me to go to bed. G'night!

 

[yossarian22]

Excellent!

Kay, it's officially time for me to go to bed. G'night!

Wish I could sleep. Damn insomnia.

 

[gnostic]

So, worship for you does not incorporate a higher being, such as God?

I don't think there is any higher being than Angelina Jolie. AMEN.

 

[cardero]

Without trying to offend you, what do you get out of worshipping God?

I didn't know if you were addressing me but since your post followed mine I will be truthful and tell you that I do not worship GOD. He doesn't require it.

AM I the ONE TRUE GOD? No. YOU are ALL Gods. AM I the oldest GOD? YES! Just because I AM the oldest, does this give ME the right to BE adorned, worshipped, or revered? No, I do not expect it nor do I demand it.

HELLO IT'S ME: An Interview With GOD
Chapter: GOD's Beginnings & Our Relationship To Reality
Pg: 338

 

[Popeyesays]

So, no one expects anything when they worship God?

I could think of many things that are incorporated into worship in terms of what the worshipper wants - don't send me to hell, I hope my family and friends get better, please keep my loved ones stay out of danger, and so forth, even if this wish is not stated directly.

Perhaps I am being too cynical today.

I think Jesus put prayer well when He said: "Thy will be done."

Prayer and worship is to put one in tune with the will of God and subordinate one's own will to God's. al-Islam means "Submission".

The Bab taught us to pray saying: "Is there any Remover of Difficulties save God? Say: Praised be God. He is God. All are his servants and all abide by His bidding. There is none other God but Thee, the Help-in-Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

We could start a whole thread on what "Self-Subsisting" means.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Looking outward, we see only the reflection of our soul. "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled" (Titus 1:15)

Why? Because God is One; there is no "other."

Yes!

I shall have study that Titus quote more.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Without trying to offend you, what do you get out of worshipping God?

If you do not expect him to do anything for you, and your worship will do nothing for him, what is the point of this practice, then?

It would be far too presumptuous for me to even try to guess what God gets out of your worship.

Apologies if I accidentally insulted you with any of my questions.

Worship offers me an outlet for the gratitude I get from the positive experiences of living. It is the opposite of lamenting. When I lament, I focus on the negative and bemoan my existence. But when I worship, I focus on the positive and rejoice in it!

For me, God is the Spirit of Living. It is not above or below me, it is inside me.

 

[eudaimonia]

Looking outward, we see only the reflection of our soul.

I tend to agree with this in that our attitudes color our evaluations of things.

"Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled" (Titus 1:15)

Interesting how "unbelieving" is snuck into that quote so craftily. Why can't someone who is unbelieving be "pure" as well?


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Interesting how "unbelieving" is snuck into that quote so craftily. Why can't someone who is unbelieving be "pure" as well?

A good question. One who is unbelieving is an open vessel for all beliefs. Essentially, pure.

 

[Rolling_Stone]

If you believe in the Oneness of Infinity you are a believer whether or not you call it "God."

 

[doppelganger]

"Worship" to me represents placing the conscious mind into a symbolic context with infinity through the personal participation in creative art - drama, mythology, story.

Robert M. Price in his book The Reason Driven Life captures the essence nicely, IMO:

Worship, liturgy, religion, it seems to me, are essentially dramatic and literary in nature. It is no coincidence that all drama began as religious ritual: miracle plays and mystery plays. Religious life is a matter of reading the great fictions and joining in the great dramas of a religious tradition . . . worship remains aesthetic and dramatic in nature.

 

[doppelganger]

If you believe in the Oneness of Infinity you are a believer whether or not you call it "God."

When push comes to shove, that ultimately includes every conscious self. Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing which questions to ask and learning to listen very, very carefully to the answers provided in response. :rainbow1:

 

[sojourner]

The very word worship is a compound word, coming from two Anglo-Saxon roots. The first part -- wor -- comes from the root-word werden, which means "to become." Since God has identified God's self by the name "I AM," (the Hebrew places this in a "causitive" tense: "I cause to be what comes to be") worship is about God creating with us. The second part of the word is the word for "shape." So, we could see worship as a shape of events in which God becomes something for us, and in which we become something. We ask things of God (intercession), we praise, we give thanks, we confess, we consecrate ourselves to service (supplication). Through these different stances we take before God in worship, God helps us to peel back the layers we've grown around ourselves to get at who we really are. That is our work, and God's work. God asks us to be sincere in that work we do before God. In worship we seek to become aligned with God who creates with us, and to be moled to God's will -- not to mold God to our will.

 

[rojse]

I believe this discussion was within the sphere of religion at the moment. I won't try and confuse the issue with whether worshipping a celebrity is really a celebrity , we have a big enough argument at the moment.

Worship involves prayers, doesn't it? And when you pray, you ask things from God, don't you? Like help me ace my biology test, let my friend get better, or don't let my family be in danger. And is there not all this talk that God answers prayers, but not in ways that we can comprehend?

If God exists as an entity, and does not give any material possessions in exchange for worship, and does not disadvantage those who do not worship, why does he require it, and why do you require it?

 

[yossarian22]

You assume that people worship only to ask things of god, and your view of worship is skewed as a result.

 

[rojse]

So, you have never asked for anything from God?