Worship: A Fatal Mistake?

Worship is fatal.

At least that's what I believed. I believed that worship was the cause of my emptiness and unworthiness and without it, I would die...forever.

Let me tell you why. But before I do that, let's look at this thing we call "worship".

First, why do we worship? What's the real purpose? On the surface, I saw it as simply giving honor to God (or some other deity), and for the most part that's what it is; but let's look at the definition of worship.

"Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English weor[p]scipe, meaning honor shown to an object, which has been etymologized as "...worth-ship--to give worth to something."

In addition to giving worth to something, "worship asserts the reality of its object...". In other words, worship speaks confidently of the reality or realness of something. When you look at these or any other definitions of "worship" you see they all involve "giving". There is no worship without giving something. Giving devotion, honor, credibility, worth, etc. Some even give tangible objects like food, animals, and money as a form of worship.

Well, you cannot give what you do not have, can you?

Is it possible to give what you don't have?

No, it isn't. You must first have something to give it. You must have honor to give it. You must have worth to give it. You must have animals, money, and food to give it. You must first have love, esteem, respect, and reverence to give it.

When you worship, is there ever any doubt that you are giving reverence, honor, love, and glory to God (or some other object)?

I dare say there is no doubt.


When you worship and give honor, worth, love and respect, do you lose these qualities and attributes in the process? Really think about this.

By giving, do you then become worth-less or honor-less? Does worship result in depletion of love, respect, and reverence in the worshiper? Is worship an exercise where you lose what you have given?

Of course not. Even if you're giving things like animals, food, and money to worship, or make real the object of your worship, these tangible things are simply symbols and representations of the intangible credibility and witness you're giving to the object. They just represent your testimony to the object's reality.

Anyone who has ever worshiped knows that the giving of what you already have only focuses your attention on that quality in you. You see and feel more clearly your capacity for reverence, honor, love, respect, worth, glory, and credibility.

Worship does not leave you empty of these qualities. Giving glory, honor, and love to God did not leave me empty. My fatal mistake was believing that it did.

I thought that I was empty, void, deserted, abandoned, hollow, meaningless and without worth. I believed that I needed something to continuously fill me with worth and value and without that "something" I wouldn't have it.  My book Firing God is about my discovery that this is not true.

My giving did not cause emptiness or worthlessness. And I was not empty and worthless in the first place (because, again, I cannot give what I don't have). I see and understand now that I can only give what I already have and my giving does not leave me with nothing.

My giving only focused my attention on that quality in me but, at the same time, worship was not needed in order for me to have those qualities.  The same is true for you.

You are not empty and in need of replenishment from something "outside" of you. Sacrifice is not needed so you can be filled and made whole.

You are never not whole. You are already full. Your wholeness and fullness is not divided, diminished, or in pieces.  Worship is not needed, but if you choose to do so, pay attention to your worship.

Look at what you are giving and know that it's already there and is neither increased or diminished as you "give" it away.