Writings on this page

Honor - Praise - Worship

Time

How do Problems Cause Worship

                                    

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HONOR - PRAISE - WORSHIP

There is a difference between praising and honoring and worshiping and here is some of the ways they are intertwined yet separate.

PRAISE and HONOR  are closely related
IN our finite realm, we often honor and even "praise" others for their accomplishments.
This can take on many many forms:
The simple
(yet fulfilling to the receiver) Smile or all knowing glance - hand shake - kiss - or wave.
The verbal, sincerely meant "thank you", or greeting card or even public speech.
Praise and honor, can go all the way up to placing the individuals image on a coin ... a stamp... or even a trophy - bronze statue or a painting...
But all in all, it is all giving praise...
Praising can (and often is) be done by simply engaging our mind and our mouth...
In short "Praise" would seem to be honoring someone, other than ourselves, as a conscious recognition from within ourselves, of an involvement in some tangible happening... such as "an accomplishment".. "a creation" ....or any other "improvement on", or "manipulation of", something that already exists....

And then there is a negative praising in that of praising ourselves:
Praising ourselves or attempting to extrude honor from others, for ourselves, is often done by quoting the accomplishments of the person or object being praised and expounding on attributes of that object with the prideful intent of attaching ones self too the accomplishment and thereby gaining credibility "along with" the person
(or The Being in the case of God) that is actually worthy of such praise.

This is, almost exclusively, done by engaging the mouth and the subconscious mind, and is the showing of ones own insecurities - jealousies and the likes of other prides which hide behind false humilities
Simple examples would be:
"We were together just before he ran the race" or "we spoke during the time she wrote the book".. or "the day before he died ''I" spoke to him". Or "I taught him
(or her) those techniques and don't get me wrong "I" really like him (or her) ...BUT .. bla bla bla".

Usually those of us that follow this "clanging cymbal" syndrome can be found, directing "our praise" to God, during public prayer, but secretly hoping our fellowman is taking note of our godly or pious nature and secretly praying
(to our self, because God won't hear it) that our fellowman will praise "us" for doing so...
It is a twisted notion and sadly enough all too common...

And then there is Praising God:
Strangely enough actually Praising God rarely required engaging our mouth...
More so, there would seem to be a connection needed, between our mind and our heart, at which time "body language" or "mental image"
(of the minds eye) becomes the important communication devise.
This would seem to be the body language that speaks to our fellowman via the methods by which we are willing to "give our lives" too and for that fellowman thereby honoring God.
(while this is important in the social realm, it is a lie unless, it is first perfected at home).

WORSHIP
Worshiping is quite another dimension, which involves The Heart, in willing acknowledgement of a Superiority and the blatant admission that, that Superiority cannot be understood by the mind, but the heart attached to our mind is grateful for the
(or any) association with The Object of our worship.
A key factor in loving Worship is that of The Free Will, coupled with humility and knowledge.
(both of which are supplied in ample amounts for each soul throughout there "time" on earth)
"Worship" would seem to be "Praising" God for The ability and willingness to command authority over the Non-tangible realities.
(Such as the virtues of Faith - Hope - Love)
Therefore whenever such gifts are bestowed into the finite realm, acknowledgment of and honoring the gift is in order.
Such acknowledgment cannot be adequate with words, in that, any and all of the words that the mind commands, fall short of being able to explain non-tangible realities
(this too would seem to be a viable part of Gods design of the finite realm) and this is where the unexplainable "feeling of heart" (which God alone sees in its' transparent nature) is necessary .
WE humans often seem to confuse or omit any type of distinction, between praising - honoring, and worshiping. This is something that has a tendency to cause us to misdirect our truly heartfelt emotions and or water them down to simply using our mind and our mouth leaving our hearts
(the less tangible unit in the equation) out of the process.

A cute anecdote:
This brings to mind a story of a Sermon:
This "Homily" has never actually be heard by me other than in jest, although the story of it has been resounded throughout many a denomination by Clergy and lay person alike.
It is known as the Best and Shortest Sermon Ever....It Goes Like this:
1). A hot day in late summer, is the setting, when the fishing is good and the ballgames are at the exciting time of the season.
2). All the members of the congregation are sweating.
(here embellish details as needed)
3). The Pastor of the Flock ascends to the pulpit, after long readings from both Old and New Testaments.
4). The Pastor, clears his throat, throws both hands into the air, and in a COMMANDING VOICE
(Like Fr Corapi) states:
5). "Folks There IS A GOD".
6). Then shaking his head and in a softer ..more compassionate, yet stern and understanding voice, beckons:
7). "And You Are NOT Him". Amen.

The point being, we are to honor our fellow man, even give praise for encouragement.
It is a God Given method by which we can show honor to God via the love and respect we owe
(and pay) to our fellowman, for the privilege of seeing Gods workings through that person.
Although once we cross over the line of vainly praising our fellowman for accomplishments that he
(or she) has procured, via The Grace of God, (to which they owe Worship for) we are then making THAT PERSON or OURSELVES, into a god..
This is, often, the point at which the individual that has fallen into that trap, individually attempts to attach themselves too
(or even surpass) the "other fellowman" in the effort of drawing the praise of others (or even worship) onto themselves, because The True God (and owner of all) is really no were in the picture.

IN CONCLUSION
Jesus, being the Savior of all Mankind and in Unity with The Father and The Holy Spirit is far more than "worthy", far more than "deserving", of all mankind's Worship.
Even far beyond the point that, while Worshiping The Triune God Alone is imperative, Praising God Alone would seem inadequate.
HE MUST BE PRAISED in All of His Works, In All of His Words, AND HONORED In All of His Creations. THIS is where Praise and Honor and Worship become ONE and the Heart and Mind and Mouth will find Unity.

 

jmj

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TIME:

ALL of the thought processes, of the writings, on this site revolve around one, often overlooked or underestimated yet, fundamental power. Gods Gift of "time".

Sooo it has come to mind that "It was Time" to do some deeper thought on explaining (or attempting to) the angle which this non-tangible reality is viewed from.

 

During the process of God Creating all that is, time would seem to be the one thing HE ordained necessary to create and put into place (or set in motion), which holds everything in the finite.

 

 

There are many men (and women) taking advantage of "tax dollars" and studying 1000s of facets of this finite commodity, in the effort of "explaining time", via molecular dismantling - radio active projections - solar reactions - and the likes.

Most have come up with pretty impressive conclusions as to "its" beginning and even methods or circumstances under which time itself can be suspended and or reversed.

In nature such items as "black holes" have caught the telescopic eye of many and in the laboratory successful "bi-location" (one measurable particle being in two places at the same "time") of protons has become more than a parlor trick  )

 

While the above mentioned curiosities can easily be viewed as fulfillments of Gods desire for mankind to enjoy His (Gods) Creation to its fullest, the following excerpt (of pondering on "time" from the angle of prayer and faith) will be taking a less scientific look and is more of an attempt to make "common sense" out of it (time).

 

Which brings me to one of my pet peeves in human thoughtlessness and one strictly human idea that has been articulated as a facet of "TIME", BUT instead is one of the worlds longest lasting misnomers:

This being when someone uses the word "ETERNITY" (or any of its' other common names such as Heaven - Eternal Bliss -The Everlasting Kingdom) as though eternity and time have anything to do with each other. (unless God Says they do, for time is His invention, His property, and will only be intertwined  (with Eternity) at moments when HE ordains such phenomenon )

(One of our most modern physicists has even gone far enough (in the string theory) to rationalize that: "Time has always existed", but this theory opens up yet another, pride driven, can of worms which will continue to confuse the proud in their innermost thoughts, until the end of time)

 

There are "concepts" of time which we all seem to, both refer to, and hide behind during those "moments" when we make excuses for our mismanagement of this God Given commodity;. such as: Later - earlier - then - now - way back when - in the future - never (this last one is actually a concept of a "Non-time" and possibly even Non-eternity)

Some common statements of humans in every "day" life that usually blurt from the mouth without engaging the mind are:

"Where did the time go"

" We'll be there, if time allows"

" Sure could use some extra time"

" We are all only given so much time"

"His time ran out" or "It was Her time"

 

Common sense and Faith (even "quantum faith" which would be that faith 777,000,000 times smaller than a mustard seed)  suggests that there is a "veil" (so to speak) which God has seemed to have placed between Himself (or more accurately, His residence) and each human, allowing the human to only just barely see outside this realm of "time".

This veil becomes less translucent (to the dark side of the visual spectrum) when the human insists on using only their normal range of senses, finite tools, and scientific "proof driven" reason.

 

A closer metaphoric way of looking at it may well be that of a "two way mirror", in that "the person" on the reflective side of a two way mirror generally has no idea that anyone could be on the other side of the glass. While someone behind the mirror is fully aware  of what is taking place on "both sides" of the glass.

In the case of "Time" and "Eternity", we that are on the reflective side of the glass are living in a room (this universe) where everything is governed by Planck - nanoseconds - milliseconds - seconds - minutes - hours - days - weeks -months - years - decades -centuries -millenniums as well as moments - little whiles - long whiles, "ages" and shortly it will be explained as to when we are governed  by "No time at all", while living in time.

Those on the other side of this hypothetical mirror ARE NOT governed by the above mentioned principalities, for they are living outside these unneeded restrictions, in THAT PLACE where only LOVE reigns.

 

We get a glimpse of the "timelessness" of Love, when a man and a woman, encounter it here on earth. For those of us that have been Blessed to have experienced that all engulfing feeling toward a person during early courtship and upon finding out that they feel the same way also, doesn't care that some wise guy scientist figured out that what we were feeling was "endorphins".

NO we didn't care or have a need for explanations then and we don't need them now. 

This may be a part of what Moses understood at the "time" he was Spoken to by God, when he (Moses) was Blest with the knowledge of The Holy Name of The Hypostatic Union.

The complex mystery of such pure LOVE was pronounced from the Other Side Of The Veil, where time does not exist and in the Holiest of Holy Explanations, which at the same time, is Holiest of Holy Personal References,,,,,,,I AM.

 

Here is when we are living earthly life timelessly:

A good case could be made for the notion that Love on earth IS THAT PLACE where we are governed by "No time at all", although this is not what was in my mind and still is not.

Most of us, like to believe that we spend (or invest) our time wisely. (This remains to be seen and  probably the Biggest part of that which is not up to each of us to judge.)

Most of us feel we allot ourselves a proper amount "of time" each day for work - rest - meals - recreation (and of course prayer) and the likes and are well in control of our TIME to keep ourselves in a proper balance of health, physically - mentally - spiritually.

While a good argument could be put up against anyone as to whether or not "all" of their "conscious" decisions are the right ones or not when "spending or investing" their time is concerned,  it needs to be pointed out that there is a period in the daily life of each human that ever lived , when they are OUT OF CONTROL OF TIME.... OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE REALITY OF TIME....TOTALLY OBLIVIOUS AS TO WHETHER A SECOND HAS PASSED OR AN HOUR....

We all live outside of TIME for about 1/3 of our lives .... When we are sleeping ..Often (a nap of 30 minutes) can seem like a complete nights sleep... and again 8 hours can seem like only a few moments ...

How is it that we who believe WE are in control of all facets of "our own time" can be truly so out of control??? ....

Ooooh sure we set the alarm clock and to a certain extent "regulate" WHEN we sleep... but during "the time" we are asleep there is absolutely no recognition or control of the surroundings, let alone the conscious processes that we pride ourselves on (as well as judge ourselves by)  during the other 2/3rds of our lives.

 

Me thinks that if this all needs an answer that, that answer has something to do with the separation of the conscious mind and the sub-conscious mind and very possibly "the veil" between the two IS the minds eye...of the human psyche.

And although "the Veil" between God and man remains to be time itself, that same minds eye would seem to be the one tool (or facet of each soul) that attaches both heart and mind, to That Which is on the other side of the veil and Desires to be viewed.

 

Temporary Conclusion:

    While time (when it is actually thought about) must be considered a Gift from God, (and it truly is) a Greater Gift from God is that of taking each of us OUT OF this limited universe, and to The Place where this restraint of being responsible to time is no longer required.

 

(this writing is to be continued  at a later - date - moment in eternity - setting - TIME)

 

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How do "Troubles" - "Trials" - "Problems" ...Even Temptations that have lead to sin...cause us to "Worship"?


A facet of the nature of our human (diminished capacity) existence here on earth, would seem to revolve around a interior calling, which desires personal perfection.

In that: When we give into "temptations", or run into "problems", we are often at a loss, for a (earthly) rational means of honestly dealing with the situation. Any dishonest solutions only seem to bring about unresolved disruptions in Spirit, which can be the seed (or seeds) that grows into all form of physical - mental - spiritual maladies.

This is only a simple logic, in that, if we possess all the necessary tools to deal with a "trouble or problem" it would not even be in the category in the first place, thereby couldn't cause any disruption.

Regardless, once we are at that point of, being at a loss to even "explain" those natural feelings of guilt or remorse (in the case of sin) or a fear and helplessness of being unable to deal with whatever calamity that has been encountered, we turn to God ...(in short: we are humbled. And this is when any such trials - problems - even temptations, should be seen as a Gift from God.)

 

For many humans, THIS is the ONLY time God is thought of ... considered ... or what is commonly called "Prayed to".
 

In short and again: It would seem that Prayer is something that takes place when troubles are around.. And once we “pray” – Graces are sent from heaven …. The catastrophe is averted, or minimized and we return to our former (what could be rightfully referred to as) "Godless life".

 

Then IF we were Loyal Children, THIS is when Worship would take  place. In giving or offering Thanks … THEN again, additional Worship should take place, in humbly asking for more Graces, via additional Prayers, that the cycle of Love may continue…. Only this time without the need for “the same old troubles” to enter our re-born life…

One unusual thing to come to grips with is:

No matter how many times this “cycle” of re-birth takes, Our God is always willing to be there, for each of us. Not only having made available the common necessary tools, (Church - Sacraments - Bible - Tradition) but with the subtlety that only God can manifest, as He causes "events" - "inklings" - "signal graces", to take place in our daily lives, thereby placing personal "specialty tools" within reach.

These events very often are involving other humans that don't even know they are doing Gods Work.

 

All of which is (not forcing, but) aiding our free will, to do the building or rebuilding of a spiritual life that is needed to make each, everything we can be.

This is all quite miraculous, given the militant resistance we offer ourselves and Him to work with.

 

This all seems to lead to an explanation of how only a Loving Father could allow, Jesus The Christ, The Perfect Human Son, to be lead "by The Spirit" into a desert for 40 days to be tempted by the devil. That each of us could know, that even though temptations are real, giving into the sin temptations offer is not desirable and the reward (of the virtue gained by not giving into) is a precious treasure, whereas the short term "perceived gain" or "pleasure" of sin is nothing more than "trouble".

 

This would seem to be a foremost reason to beckon Our Father In Heaven to:

"Lead us not into temptation", (acknowledging, that He allows temptations - troubles - trials, only because He knows that HIS LOVE is readily available to each and far more powerful than either temptation or sin.) "but deliver us from evils".  (Without the probability (inevitable?) of our own weaknesses causing "troubles" and thereby harming our relationship with Him)

jmj

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