The Place of Worship

A basic and simple definition of worship with which I have lived a long time is,  "Worship is our response to God."  It is, therefore, something which can be experienced in the sanctuary where symbols of holy presence prevail and it is also something which be known in quiet moments of solitude and stillness, or in the busy streets of the marketplace.  Actually, this simple definition is something which reminds me that every moment has within it the potential to be a moment of worship.  Nothing external is required.  A heart open to what God is doing in our lives is really all that is necessary for us to enter into a time of worship.     

It is likely that many of us experience unexpected moments of holy presence with some kind of adoration or praise or thanksgiving without calling it an act of worship, but anytime we pause to receive from Him with gratitude or praise, it is just as much a moment of worship as any that might be experienced in the places filled with the bells and whistles of Sunday's gathered worship.  I had no idea when I retired and moved to the farm that it would be a place where divine revelation would constantly unfold before me.  As the poet so aptly expressed it long ago, "..Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God...."  What surprised me when I arrived here was the truth of these words written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  

When we gather in the sanctuary on Sunday, we begin by offering an invocation, or an invitation to the Almighty to be present among us.  Out here there is no invitation, but there are so many signs which point to Him being here ahead of me.  Wherever we go, He has arrived ahead of us.  Wherever we are, in the sanctuary or in the midst of creation, He is present and ready to receive our worship.