In these chapters, Warren tells us to worship in a way that pleases God, to worship even if God seems distant, and that we were formed for God’s family.
The take away for me in chapter 13, worshiping in a way that pleases God, is about being fully present, fully aware, fully in tune with your Self all the time. This, to me, is what “worship” really is. Warren refers to the work of another author, who identifies 9 ways to worship, including being outdoors, sensual experiences, structure and rituals, solitude and simplicity, and others. What Warren describes as God making us each different to worship Him in our own way, I see as each of us needing to grow closer to, and into, our true Selves, needing to be fully present every day to better understand who we are and how we are to live in accord with our deepest values and desires. This isn’t a part-time job – tuning into yourself must be ceaseless, what Warren describes as giving God all of yourself. Warren lists dancing among the many types of worship that exist, something I touched on in this post when I wrote that, when I have a really good dance, I see God. I dance because I am compelled to dance. When I do so, I am living according to my deepest values and desires, and the experience can be quite exhilarating. In theory, my entire life would be as exhilarating as those brief moments if I could stay as deeply present, as deeply attuned to my Self, without ceasing. This, to me, is what “worship” is all about.
I had a hard time with chapter 14, which is about worshiping even when God seems distant. I personally haven’t experienced an intense presence or absence of “God” in my life. Perhaps this is a product of being a novice spiritual seeker – I’m not close enough to God/Self to feel a withdrawal of that presence in my life. That said, I often find the guidance I’m looking for lacking, which is perhaps what this chapter is about. In those situations, I take a deep breath, remind myself this is where I need to be right now, and trust that the guidance will come when the time is right – when I’m ready to accept it. It certainly makes keeping faith and hope easier when life gets hard.
Chapter 15 was very dogmatic and I didn’t find much help there in matters of daily living.
TL;DR: No tl;dr for virtual book club posts.
