Opening words

 

 

The various modes of worship that prevailed in the Roman World were all considered by the people as equally true, by the Philosophers as equally false and by the magistrates as equally useful. 

 

Gibbon wrote this in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:

 

 

 

Story for all ages

 

.    The day begins with the creation of a sacred design on the ground outside the worshippers door.   A lady of the house creates a lotus using bleached rice flower.  Ramachadran shaves and bathes, drinks tea and eats a rice cake. He then then walks to the temple of the Goddess Mariamann, the feminine power that conquers evil and heals disorder.  He carries a wicker basket containing  bananas and hibiscus that he brought from home.  Along the way he buys a coconut and white camphor from a street vendor.   As Ramachadran enters the temple he smells the incense. He hears worshippers chanting Mariamman, Mariamann, Mariamann.  He joins others circling the temple.  He reaches up to ring a bell suspended from the ceiling.  The clear tone clears his mind and allows him to focus on the deity.  A priest collects the offerings from the circling people.  Later a curtain is opened and ramachandran can see the goddess in a bright red sari adorned with the flowers brought by the worshippers.  The priest waves a brass lamp with seven flames in front of the goddess.  Ramachandran locks his eyes on the image and experiences darshan, he sees and is seen by the goddess.  He is filled with a feeling of well being, of centeredness and belonging, his world is in balance.

 

The priest brings a tray of lighted camphor. The tray also contains  ashes and red vermillion powder.  Ramachadran  puts his finger in the burning camphor  and  touches his eyelids. This symbolically opens his soul to communion with the Divine.  He then puts his finger in the ashes and vermillion and touches his forehead.  These marks on his forehead symbolize purification and the power of the Goddess.

 

Then the priest returns the baskets.  The temple retains some of the contents for its own use, but returns the rest for the use of the family. It comforts him to know that the Goddess has blessed it.

 

Ramachandran returns home to prepare for his work as a computer repairman.  He will drink only water during the day as part of a youthful vow to honor Mariamann.  Some days Ramachandran does not visit the temple but worships his Goddess at his household shrine.

 

 

HOW WE WORSHIP April 21 2002

 

 

Two weeks ago we heard Kris Tucker Lowe tell about his Catholic boyhood.  He served as an altar boy during Mass at the prep school that was intended to prepare him for Catholic priesthood. 

 

As I understand Catholicism, the Mass is the centerpiece of Catholic worship.  The Mass is a recreation of the Last Supper in which Jesus dined with his Apostles.  The priest offers prayers over the wafers and wine that magically become the actual body and blood of Jesus.  The audience participates by eating a wafer.  The priest takes a sip of the wine. 

 

I understand that in earlier times the congregation also drank the wine.  Some have suggested the change came because of fear that the blood of Christ would be spilled.   If you have heard   Bernstein's Mass, you will remember the concern shown when wine was spilled

 

Mass continues with a short homily and readings from the gospels and the Old Testament, the name protestants call the Jewish bible.

 

I have talked about my experience in the Midwest Mormon church, The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  This church recently changed its name to Community of Christ.   It is generally believed that this was done so that less time would have to be devoted to  telling how  the RLDS church differed from the Mormons.  

 

Worship in the old RLDS church that I knew was a typical Protestant service.  There were hymns, scripture readings, invocations and benediction as well as sermons.  The Sacrament of the Last Supper was held on the first Sunday of each month.  The bread and wine were said to represent the body and blood of Christ.  We partook in remembrance of Jesus.

 

On Wednesday night, a prayer and testimony meeting was held. There was no instrumental music and hymns were sung acapela if  there was a long period in which no one spoke.

 

Really the only thing that would seem odd to a visitor would be the references to books by Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and The Doctrine and Covenants.

 

 

When I started shopping for a more fulfilling religion, I visited a nearby Lutheran church.  By this time I was fairly along the way to being an Agnostic and had abandoned the concept of a personification of evil, Satan.   Just one visit told me that Lutherans believed in a personal God who keeps track of your sins.  Then during a baptism, the minister asked the godparents if they rejected Satan and all his works.  I too rejected Satan and all his alleged works because I no longer believed in such a being.

 

My most pleasant experience in searching for a church was with the Quakers, The Religious Society of friends.  The Church in Rock Hill (now moved to the riverfront) worshipped in silence for the most part.  Possibly after a half hour, someone would make a short statement.  One or two others would sometimes follow up with their own thoughts.  But it was mostly silence.. I could sense the deepening silence as time passed.  It seemed clear that these good people were in touch with ultimate reality.

 

The worship ended when the person in charge shook the hand of his /her neighbor. Then everyone followed suit. 

Then came the announcements.  This was to me the high point of the service.  This was during the Vietnam War. Eldora Spiegelberg told of her bus trip to the white house to protest the war.  She told us that it had been her prayer that there would be no damage to the beautiful flowers if they were confronted by the Secret Service.

 

 

Another time a person announced they were driving to Cairo Il to take food to support a Quaker family that had moved there to try to soothe the racial strife there.

 

Down stairs during refreshments, I heard older people ask teenagers what alternate service they were planning to enter.

 

But somehow it just didn't appeal to me to drive 20 miles from home for silent worship.    So I moved on.  I visited the Unitarian Fellowship in Florissant.   There, I experienced a new concept of worship.

 

When Carol discusses worship, she reminds us that the word is derived from an Old English word meaning "worth".  The Unitarian web page article on worship puts it this way: "We worship then, whenever we ascribe worth to some value, idea, object, person, experience, attitude or activity."  Worship is not limited to reverence given to a divine being or power, according to

this view.

 

Worship should be a peak experience, using Maslov's terminology.  But Maslov questioned whether peak experiences can be created or cultivated.  But in the best of all possible Unitarian worlds, the one who plans a worship service should do just that, create a peak experience.

 

The peak moment in the Catholic Mass comes when the priest turns the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus. The Mass represents the coming of the divine into the human sphere.  Worshipers are encouraged to be part of the sacred event and be transformed by it.  The Mass is an example of sacramental worship

 

Unitarianism and Universalism emerged from New England Calvinism, which had an educational view of worship. Calvin's goal was to educate the people in the word of God, as contained in the scriptures. The education expounded in a Unitarian worship service is also the word.  But traditional scriptures are seldom mentioned.  The Unitarian sermon  may well deal with philosophy, psychology, sociology or political theory.  The minister hopes that the listeners will find things of worth in his/her words that will move them to help create community, justice, and equality.

Two forms of worship are common in Protestantism: Thematic and liturgical.  In Thematic worship a single theme is developed through readings, music and sermon. Liturgical comes from a Greek word meaning the peoples work. In liturgical worship, much of the service is read or respond to by the congregation.

In our church, the congregational hymns and the responsive readings are liturgical, the peoples work. The hymns and readings are selected to assist in developing the theme that will be enlarged upon in the sermon. 

 

This is the goal of worship according the UUA Worship Web:

Whatever approach a minister chooses, worship should help order the religious consciousness in the individual and group.  Worship should help us to understand how we relate to ourselves, to the world, and the totality of being. Worship should help us face up to our individual and collective limitations and failures, to open us up to sources of creative, healing, transforming, and renewing power. It is to help us declare, celebrate, and rejoice in those things we have discovered to be of worth.

 

Now for a contrasting prospective, lets look at other world religions.

 

Hindu means "of India".  Many gods are worshipped in India, but it is understood that there is one absolute, known as the Brahman.  Many Hindu philosophers believe that Brahmin is formless, a cosmic force that cannot be understood by mankind.  Existence as we know it is an illusion.  To reach the divine we must divest ourselves of all  physical attachments and open our mind to the great void.  Most Hindus believe in an absolute that manifests itself through the gods and goddesses.  A Hindu selects one or more of these gods or goddesses to worship and by conducting rituals designed to make contact with them, he strives to recognize his or her unity with the absolute.

 

Hindus show their reverence by invocation, prayer, song and ritual.   The contact is facilitated by an image of stone or  a painting..  For many, the image becomes the deity, but he recognizes that the magnitude of god is far greater.  Hindu sages teach that few humans are able to worship the formless Brahman. As a consequence, men worship  god through images and rituals.   This is not done because God requires it but because of the limitations of the devotee.

 

Hindus seek personal contact with the Absolute as they worship.  Their goal is "seeing and being seen by God".   This state can be achieved during daily household worship, or meditation, or when viewing a sacred sculpture during a pilgrimage or at a festival.  Seeing God and being seen brings peace and some believe may be accompanied by miracles.  In my story for all ages, I described how Ramachadran sought to see and be seen by God.

 

 

It seems to me that Jewish and Christian practices mimic many of the aspects of Hindu worship.  We use a bell to summon our worshippers, Catholics hear a bell as the bread and wine are being changed into the body and blood of Christ.   Incense is used in  Catholic worship.  In ancient Israel, Jews would bring their animal or grain offering to the temple or shrine.  If it was not to be a holocaust, most of the sacrifice was returned for family use.  The Jewish menorah holds seven candles,  matching the 7 flames in the Hindu temple.  On Ash Wednesday Catholic priests apply a dot of ash on the foreheads of worshippers.  The Hindu's revere the goddess, while Jews revere the Torah.

 

. My source for the story of Hindu worship was  "Meeting God: Elements of Hindu devotion."

 

BUDDHISM

Buddhism began in India in the 5th century BCE.  Buddhism arose within the context of the Indian philosophy that existed during the lifetime of Buddha. For instance, Dharma or the law, was taken over from Brahmanism and given new interpretations.

 

The four noble truths of Buddhism are:

1.    Existence is suffering

2.    Suffering is conceived in desire

3.    Desire can be suppressed.

4.    There is an eightfold path to the suppression of desire

 

The eightfold path leads to the escape from the cycle of rebirth. This is Nirvana.

 

The modern practice of Buddhism is centered on monastic life.  The monks and Nuns living in these communities are free from worry about material needs.  The work of the monks varies by area but includes the presentation of lectures for the local population.  In China and Japan, they organize schools and dispensaries and engage in social work. Monks are present at funerals and tonsure ceremonies for young people coming of age.  They chant sutras and offer prayers at funerals.

 

There is no holy day such as the Christian or Jewish Sabbath in Buddhism.  The ceremonies on holy days include hymns, the worship of holy images and the chanting of sutras by the priests.

The Zen sect of Buddhism emphasizes meditation.

 

Jewish worship.

I have become interested in the way  the Jewish religion  developed as it interfaced with the Canaanites so now let's look at the religion of Canaan.

 

 The Canaanites were a Semitic people who arose in present day Palestine about the same time that the higher form of Hinduism developed, possibly 1500 BCE.  Much of what we know of the Canaanites comes from the Jewish Bible.  And as you would expect,  it is not complimentary.  The Canaanites worship false gods and do all sorts of ugly things.  But archeologists have found some primary material.

 

Texts found at Ras Shamra describe the sacrifices required of Canaanites.  On the occasion of a new moon, two bulls must be sacrificed.   Students of comparative religion have noticed similarities between Canaanite and Hebrew practice.  In the Jewish Bible, Numbers 28:11 calls for the sacrifice of two bulls as part of the celebration of the new moon. 

 

The Canaanites performed ceremonies on their rooftops to honor the sun and hosts of heaven.   This became part of Hebrew worship but the prophet Jeremiah condemned the practice.  He wrote:

 

"all the houses upon which incense has been burned to all the hosts of heaven..shall be defiled"  Jeremiah 19:13

 

The worship of the Canaanite gods of dawn and sunset involved the seething of a kid in its mothers milk.  The Hebrew bible forbids this practice, probably in the attempt to wipe out the worship of the two Canaanite gods.   Even today, Kosher Jews keep separate cooking utensils for meat and milk. This guarantees that they will not inadvertently cook meat in its mother's milk.

 

 

Elijah's contest with the priests of Baal in 1 Kings18:23 tells us something about the ritual of Canaanite priests.  When they were asking Baal to ignite the sacrificial fire, they performed a leaping dance and cut themselves with knives.  You may remember how David danced as the Ark of the Covenant entered Jerusalem. He must not have been fully dressed, because his first wife criticized him for his lewd performance.

 

One Canaanite priest was known as the bridegroom.  He had sex with women from the Canaanite sanctuary as part of regular fertility rites.  It appears that ritual sex was carried over into early Jewish worship. By  about 700 BCE   Hebrew prophets began to denounce male and female prostitution  in the temple.

 

The Canaanites were an agricultural people and their festive occasions coincided with agricultural events such as planting and harvesting .  When the Hebrews took over these Canaanite practices they renamed them after historical events.  The Passover is one example.  It celebrates the escape from Egypt but began as a Canaanite celebration of the first fruits of the field.

 

You might wonder how the Jews took over so many Canaanite practices since the Bible says the Jews killed most of them.  That's just one of the many errors in the history of the Jews found in the bible.  The tribes that became the Jewish people entered Canaan over a period of hundreds of years.  Many settled in Canaan before the arrival of Moses' people from Egypt. It was mostly peaceful.  The people who had lived in Egypt and came out with Moses introduced the Canaanites to the God Yahweh.  The Canaanites accepted Yahweh as their God. But the desert invaders took over many of the rituals and practices that had been applied to Elohim and Baal.  Another indication that the Jews accepted the Canaanite culture is that Hebrew is the language of Canaan.  This would hardly have happened if the majority of the Canaanites had been killed.

 

Until the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 CE, animal sacrifice was the core of the Hebrew religion. This too was taken over from the Canaanites.  Jeremiah and several of the great ethical prophets denounced animal sacrifice.

 

"For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I give you, Obey my voice and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in the way that I command you, that it may be well with you".

 

All the major prophets made similar statements.   The prophets preached that animal sacrifice was not part of the teaching of Moses.  But Leviticus is full of animal sacrifice and Jewish tradition ascribes Leviticus to Moses.

 

When I mention the words of the prophets to "true believers"  they challenge my interpretation of their words.  They argue that the prophets really didn't deny that animal sacrifice was part of the word of God.  They say the intent of the prophets was to tell the people not to think animal sacrifice alone was sufficient to satisfy god.   Righteous living was also required.  The prophets called for righteous living but they all denied that God enjoyed the odor  of burning animals.

 

When the temple was no more, the Synagogue became the center of Jewish worship.  Temple practices were continued in so far as possible in the Synagogue. Objects in the Synagogue included an Eternal Light, symbolizing the eternity of their faith, the Ark containing a parchment of the Pentateuch, and a platform from which services are conducted.  Any Jew can conduct the service, but a Cantor is usually employed for that purpose.  Morning, afternoon and evening services are held.

 

The home is important in Jewish life.  The prime celebration of the Jewish year is the Passover. It is celebrated at home.  The father rehearses the story of the Jewish Exodus during the meal.

 

PRECURSORS OF CHRISTIANITY

 

Just as Judaism grew out of the earlier Canaanite culture, there are many hints that Christianity was heavily influenced by earlier Greek and Egyptian religions.

 

Consider Cybelle and Atis.  Cybelle was the earth mother and Attis was her consort. He died each year, as did the vegetation, and arose in the spring.  In the Attis worship, the devotee stood under a grating while a bull was killed above him.  He was literally washed in the blood of his God.  He was purged of his sins and reborn for eternity. Today, some Christians speak of being washed in the blood of Christ. Cybellism was introduced into Rome in 204 BCE.

 

Isis of Egypt was the earth mother.  Osiris was her husband/brother who was killed.  Isis weeps for her husband and the gods help her find the body. She brought him back to life. Osiris was the vegetation god and those who worshipped Isis and Osiris were assured good crops and personal redemption.

 

The central theme of the Eleusinin mystery in Greece concerns a  goddess who died and rose from the dead.  Her followers thought that through identification with the divine conqueror of the underworld, they too might break the enslaving chains of mortality.

 

Dionysus was a Greek vegetation god who died and rose again. Worshippers believed that if they ate the raw flesh of animals sacred to Dionysus they shared in his divine life.  In drinking wine, they were filled with his spirit.

 

All these mystery religions were current during the time Jesus lived.  They all were centered on death and resurrection.   For Christianity to make an impact it was necessary to have the Christian God die and rise again and remember him by eating bread and drinking wine that represented Jesus.  In the Catholic faith, the bread and wine become the flesh and blood of Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ISLAM

According to Karen Armstrong in "History of God", Mohammad sensed the need to reform the Pagan religion of the Arabs.  Their old religion had a pantheon of Gods but no unifying theology.

 

Mecca had become wealthy as a trading center and the old spiritual values and customs of the desert had been abandoned.

 

Muhammadans believe that Muhammad received the Koran as it was dictated by an angel.  Its Arabic is beautiful.  Some are converted  to Islam because of its beauty.   Muslims claim they experience a sense of transendence, or  ultimate reality as they read the Koran.  Many Jews express the same idea as they read the Torah.  Muslims and Jews recite the words aloud as they sway backward and forward.  Ms. Armstrong attributes the reverence shown by Muslims and Jews to their holy book to the fact that it is in their native language.  Christians think of Jesus as the "Word of God" but see nothing holy in the Greek text itself.

 

There are 5 pillars of faith in Islam.

1.    Muslims repeat  "There is no God but the one God Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.

2.    Muslims pray 5 times a day facing Mecca.  Prayers are preceeded by ritual purification.  On Fridays, Muslims assemble in Mosques to pray and hear a sermon given by their Imam.

3.     Almsgiving is the most important outward sign of adherence to Islam

4.    Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan. 

5.    Visit the shrine at Mecca at  least once in your lifetime,

 

Muslims celebrate several religious occasions during the year.  Many of them are based on their religious history. For instance the martyrdom of Muhammad's grandson.

 

Ms. Armstrong, a former nun, writes very favorably about Islam.  She notes that in its early days, Moslem women were on an even footing with men.  Only the women in Muhammad's family were required to cover their faces out of respect.  But, says Armstrong, Men later hijacked the religion.

 

 

 

I will close with some thoughts from a contemporary writer. P D James writes mysteries, some of which were on the PBS Mystery Series.  Her book, A time to be in Earnest, is the story of one year of her life. Ms James' family was musical.  Her father sang in the choir of his Anglican church.  She remembers attending Matins and Holy Communion that followed   AS a child, she felt the great glory of the occasion and sensed that something mysterious and extremely important was happening.  When she prepared for confirmation, she thought of it as a rite of passage, and not a spiritual thing.  Confession preceded confirmation. She was chagrinned that her confession was shorter than the others and wished she had not confessed that she had been unkind to her family, but instead should have mentioned each member of her  family.

Her most meaningful experiences  as an adolescent were in Kings College Chapel in Cambridge.  She would often attend evensong on Sunday afternoon.  She felt the solemnity, the grandeur and beauty of the building, the high soaring magnificence of the roof, the candle lit gloom, the procession of the boys of the choir and the order and beauty of the traditional service.

 

 Anglican worship built around the exalted language of the Book of Common Prayer allowed her to give praise, express gratitude, experience healing and forgiveness and feel connected with the church community.

 

She summarized her feelings with:  "This I believed and still believe is the way worship should be.  I think I was in danger even of confusing worship of God with a strong emotional and aesthetic response to architecture, music and literature but it seemed to me that religion could be an esthetic experience and God could be worshipped in the beauty of holiness."

 

 

I think P D James would appreciate the beauty of our sanctuary, but our liturgy and music would not satisfy her. 

Church attendance in England is falling so it seems to be apparent that the worship that enriches her is not meaningful to most Britons.

 

So what should be our goal?  Let's continue to emphasize worth in our services but maybe a little more emphasis on esthetic experience would be appreciated.