The hound of the…
No, I’m not talking about Sherlock Holmes. I do like me a nice bit of deduction, though. What I’m referring to is the intellectual hounding that is wearing me out. It seems as if every book I read, movie I watch, and song I groove on is pelting my brain with ideas. Most of them are similar albeit angled differently. I know most of you haven’t read my extensive posting on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (I even need to refresh my memory of some of it), but there was an idea that became very coherent to me during that time. We are created by and for relationship. I know I’m not the first or most eloquent to propose this idea, but it’s implication has been following me for quite a while. The idea that our existence does and should extend beyond not only our physical bodies but also the scope of our influence has led me to think radically about how and why I do the things that I do. Of particular interest to me right now is a sense of relationship to God. If I am correct in my assertion, then God wants to live with us. How do you live with God? Imagine him chatting with you while you brush your teeth and make your morning coffee. He’s sitting next to you in the car. He puts his feet up on your desk at work. He points out the achingly beatiful sunset. He laughs with you when your kids are just too cute for words. He puts his arm around you when the aches of this world break your heart. He sees exactly what you see when you look in the mirror (and it breaks your heart).
It sounds like I’m describing a cosmic buddy. Far from it. I’m feebly trying to touch the ever present longing of a God that jealously wants to monopolize our time. Even when we want to be left alone. But you know what? He created us. He earned the right to lay claim to us. You know what else? We can still walk away. But why do we want to? We can’t exist alone and we don’t exist in a vacuum. We just aren’t big enough to contain this wondrous universe. The joy, pain, wonder, terror, happiness, horror, detail, and expanse are just too much. We can’t take it in. Yet we delude ourselves into believing that we can and have figured things out. That we can take care of ourselves.
The truth is we “need”. We need [ fill in the blank ]. The list is so long I want you to let your brain range along the scope of need. But God needs us, too. The one who made it all, who understands it all, who sees beyond the end still wants to be with you. What do you say? How do you feel? What form does your response take? That’s worship. Our recognition and response to God’s offered relationship.
How do you plan to worship?
Leave a Reply