What Worship Means
If we are surrounded by the divine, what is worship? Is it a place we go? Is it a being with whom we converse? Is it a set of protocols?
Surrounded by the Divine
If the divine is sentience, then we are surrounded by it - other people and other beings. When we are in the presence of sentience, we are in the presence of the divine. There is no value in looking for places or protocols. We can celebrate the divine - we can worship - when we are in communion with others, or even ourselves.
Focusing on the Divine
Meditation is a way to come into communion with yourself and can be an incredibly powerful way to celebrate the divine. Spending time with others, in which you focus on them, can be another way to worship. (For more exploration in this, look into what Simone Weil said about the value of attention.) Have you held the hand of someone sad or dying? You have been in communion with the divine. You have felt it. Those feelings of warmth, compassion, empathy - they are your birthright as part of the divine.
Creating a Life of Worship
If you want to live in a more thoughtful, worship-filled way, develop empathy. This leads to feelings of compassion for other beings. This leads to acts of kindness. The divine in you reaches out to the divine in others - all others.
Worship
Worship is not a place or protocols, but a way of being. As you learn to live in worship, your relationship to reality changes - the divine in you is always available. The divine in other beings is always available.
May all beings know peace!
Aroha nui,
Gerald Tūruapō Jordan, MBA, MEd, MCouns