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Wisdom Sayings
Sincerity is, perhaps, the most vitally important quality of true prayer. It is the only valid test of our faith, our hope, and our love of God. No matter how deep our meditations, nor how severe our penances, how grand our liturgy, how pure our chant, how noble our thoughts about the mystery of God; they are all useless if we do not really mean what we say.
*Thomas Merton. No Man is an Island.
The following is from A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), American Protestant writer, pastor, and author...
Do you realize that most men play at religion as they play at games? Religion itself being of all games the one most universally played. The Church has its "fields" and its "rules" and its equipment for playing the game of pious words. It has its devotees, both laymen and professionals, who support the game with their money and encourage it with their presence, but who are no different in life or character from many who take no interest in religion at all. As an athlete uses a ball so do many of us use words: words spoken and words sung, words written and words uttered in prayer. We throw them swiftly across the field; we learn to handle them with dexterity and grace-and gain as our reward the applause of those who have enjoyed the game. In the games men play there are no moral roots. It is a pleasant activity which changes nothing and settles nothing, at last. Sadly, in the religious game of pious words, after the pleasant meeting no one is basically any different from what he had been before!
*Devotional "Game of Pious Words" (www.cmalliance.org)
Today's Scripture
The Lord said, "These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made."
*Isaiah 29.13 (NLV)
The Lord said, "These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made."
*Matthew 15.7-8 (NLV)
Comments
Words can function in two ways in religion. Words can draw us into the Holy. Words can alienate us ever-more from God.
What is the character of words that draw us into the Divine? Such words are sincere and joined with affect. Our honesty with God is essential to a growing relationship with Christ. We are to be careful not to sing or pray mindlessly. We are to be aware of what we are voicing and of sincerity in doing so.
Then, with honesty is affect. We are to converse with the Divine from mind and heart. The most efficacious part of worship is expressing of desire, not mouthing information. Pious words alienate us from spiritual Life when we do not use them with sincerity and pure desire.
Cooperate worship, like private worship, is to be authentic and deepen authenticity. Too much of it is a pious game, in which we deceive ourselves, thinking that somehow we are impressing God with our acting and guaranteeing ourselves insurance to get to heaven. Our words in worship, in that case, mean little, for we are not sincere and loving enough to invest them with mindful thought and true love. Regards the public worship, this is little more than the Sunday Bargain. This is effort to mislead others and treat God like the heavenly jack pot.
The practice of prayerful contemplation is likely to embarrass by showing us the game of religious words that we have engaged along with many other confessing Christians. This is a gift, however, for in silence we come face to face with the Mystery of the Divine. This leads to worshipful awe. With this comes confession of inadequacy of all human words and grows our union with the Sacred.
Contemplation purges our worship. Silence and inner solitude open us to the inner Light. In that Christic Light we see the immensity, mystery, and holiness of the Divine Presence in awe-inspiring transcendence beyond thought and word. The reverence leads us to repent of pious word-games.
I have witnessed one thing about persons practicing prayerful contemplation: they consistently have a deep reverence of God, and they have a mindful relationship with Christ. Prayerful contemplation and religious play-acting are antithetical; contemplation drives out the sly demon of play-acting so common in popular faith. Possibly, this is a reason many persons in popular religion are so afraid of laity practicing a contemplative Christian life.
And our Christian faith would be helped by more of our clergy getting beyond too-much-comfort with the words of piety, too. But how can we really know the value of what we speak if we do not learn it through our ceasing to speak? Words once filled with meaning become cheapened by thoughtless repetition, like they are magic wands with some efficacy and truth for merely being uttered and with the name "God" or "Jesus" attached to them.
Tozier clarified in response to the hectic pace of modern church life, "Our religious activities should be ordered in such a way to leave plenty of time for the cultivation of the fruits of solitude and silence" (en.wikipedia.org). These words come from a devout man known to have a practice of lying face down in silence on the floor of his pastoral study, in awed silence before God.
The words, as well as the entire life, of a spiritual Christian and Church is reliant on fruition of the cultivation of silence and solitude. The triteness of much religious speech and lack of passion behind much worship shows we lack awe-filled prostration of heart in reverence before the mystery of Holy Otherness.
I urge you to speak fewer religious words. I urge you to speak such words out of the Center, the Word. Let your worshipful words flow with attractiveness of deep reverence and passion of ardent desire. Let those words, mindfully and honestly spoken forth out of silence and solitude, say to everyone, "Christ has captured my heart!"
Suggested Reflection
Reflect prayerfully on your worship, private and public. Be honest about your sincerity and feeling in worship, or lack of it.
Do you tend to worship mindfully? Do you find that you, at times, go through the motions without what you voice being truthful as to intent or expressive of loving respect for the Presence of God?
Brian is available to respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Mentor, his speaking, leading classes, workshops, or retreats. See any major on-line bookseller for his book An Ache for Union.
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