IS IT WORTHY OF WORSHIP?
IS IT WORTHY OF WORSHIP
The title may have made you wonder whether you should keep reading. It sounds a little “church-y,” doesn’t it?
Certainly, worship can refer to church or religious things. But a study of the word reveals that this was not always the case. For centuries, it was used as a title and only gradually became associated with church or religion.
Worship is showing deep love, respect, and honor to someone or something. Through our words and actions, we treat it as the most important thing in our world. Worship can be a verb or a noun, but either way, it is a declaration that something or someone is worthy—deserving of our respect, admiration, or acknowledgment. So, what—or whom—do you worship?
American writer and professor David Foster Wallace said, “Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship is that pretty much anything else will eat you alive.”
This reflection on worship began with a small brass bell I purchased in Japan 13 years ago. For ten years, it dangled from the ceiling fan in the She Shed. Shortly after my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago, I moved it to the living room, where it remained until his PSA result showed no detectable signs of the disease. The bell became a reminder of that season in our lives.
I was startled by the revelation that, for two years, we worshipped cancer. It became the third party in every conversation—with each other and with everyone else. It was a silent, ever-present companion: the last thought at night and the first one in the morning. We did not love it, but it demanded our respect, our attention, and our reverence. In hindsight, we unintentionally placed cancer at the center of our lives. Our actions made it clear that we considered it worthy of all the attention we gave it.
When I look through the lens of worship—its definition and its actions—I can clearly see other places that meet the criteria. Take the gym, for example. At 6:15 a.m., Monday through Friday, I am in my car heading toward the temple: Coach Vicki’s gym, where I honor my body through physical exercise.
Self-examination and experience are teaching me how easily we can slip into worshipping something—or someone—to our own detriment.
Again, what do you worship? Your past? Your children? A particular relationship, your job, your physical appearance, guilt, shame, independence, or co-dependence? After doing the hard work of finding an honest answer, I urge you to ask yourself one more question: Is the object of my attention truly worthy of my worship?
I am left wondering: Why did we allow cancer to rise to the place of worship in our home? It consumed us. Thankfully, we have abandoned that worship.
CONSIDER THIS--- Perhaps the invitation for each of us is to notice what is consuming our attention, name it honestly, and choose again what is truly worthy.
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