What do people really mean when they say worship? What does worshipping actually entail, aside from verbally praising someone or something?
I'll take a crack at it (mianly because I sort of dodged it when you posted in the Christianity Forum). For me when I pray I begin by verbally (as well as non-verbally--meaning in my head) thanking God for my life. (Looking back at your post, I can see this isn't really what you wanted, but I will continue). Oh yes, When I pray I bow down while on my knees in an act of humbling myself before God (as he is everywhere in the Christian theology)Other times I will listen to music (especailyl Sufjan Steven's Seven Swans album, and well, the lyrics are obviously Christian and I sing along, thiking of God while do it)... I'll also just get ramdom times in the middle of the day, or before I go to bed where a thought about God or scripture will just get into my head and I just think about it for however long it takes for me to get it, or give up until later because my brain hurt. Yeah, that is proobbly a lot of stuf you didn't want/already knew, but like I said, I tried...I don't realy think "ok, now I am going to worship God" I just live and try to live according to his will. Is living itself worship?
That's what I want to know. When a Christian or Muslim or whatever says we must worship God, what does he mean? How does one worship? Thanks for your answer, though. For me, bowing down and all that...well it always seemed pointless and empty. Same for most of the rest of "worship actions" if you will. But even with my non-anthromorphic idea of god, I still find myself saying thank you or putting in requests, so to speak. It may just be a hold over from when my Catholic childhood.
I believe it was Paul who wrote "pray without ceasing". For me, that means somethign along the lines of keep God in your thoughs all the time (or as long as you can without it being distracting, like for example if you were doing heart surgery, I don't think God expects you to be meditating on scripture). But you know, if you believe in whatever, loving God(s) and living your life according to the laws and regulations of whatever faith you adhere to to me would be what the bulk of worship is. For me, the bowing and especially the verbal praises and things are purely symbolic. If God is "omni-max" (it is just so handy to refer to it that way) he knows if we are humbling ourselves to him, he knows we are thanking him, he knows, well you get the picture. God knows all those things, but can they function for ourselves to I guess, also keep tabs on how God is affecting our lives (like if we think, "Yes, I must thank God" you think of all of the things i your life you have God to thank for, or want to thank God for whichever way you look at it).
burbot,, i gotta share my opinion/interpretation of what Paul meant when he say 'pray without ceasing'. i see what you mean burbot by 'keeping God in all your thoughts all the time', but i think what he meant, was,,, when you're praying,, when you're sitting down to engageing with God in prayer, i think, in that meditation, in that surrendering in your prayer, to pray without ceasing,,, to keep on surrendering without ceasing... when i pray, it's not only thanking God for His blessings, this Earth, that's just gettin prayer started,, pray can be a very deep thing,, and i personally believe what a WHOLE LOT of the intention behind the Bible and Jesus is to not only show folks how to live a life of spiritual order, but MORE IMPORTANTLY to open for them doors into worlds of spiritual experience, more and more into your prayer, your meditation, this experience - your prayer - gets deeper and deeper. some folks would say you're coming closer / clearer with God, other folks, clearer with yourSelf,, regardless,,, pray without ceasing =) and in that prayer, not to let it slip by running into illusion/delusion,, to keep your Heart/Mind on God/Spirit/Surrender. pray without ceasing, even though life should be a seemless prayer/appreciation for God/Earth/Life,,, and in that respect, your interpretation and use of Paul's words is nice =) peace
