They were foolish enough to ask me to write a meditation. Is this even vaguely appropriate?
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
I’ve always been a bit dubious about the words “praise”, “give thanks” and “worship” used in a religious context. It feels like we are simultaneously anthropomorphizing and infantilizing this entity as though we’re placating a particularly narcissistic and needy parent.
Oh, hell, I’m not even sure I understand what the act of praying is all about. Are we actually speaking to a being which has agency in the world and will, if adequately importuned, act? Or is it just a way of organizing and expressing our fears and anxieties and desires?
I suppose that the idea must be that we should always be aware of the glories of this universe in which we find ourselves, and I have known moments when I feel so lucky that I have a need to express a kind of general gratitude. And very often I have that feeling in Covenant services.
It’s a conundrum, but one for which I am grateful.
-Ruddy Cravens