The Value of Worship to God

My friend Fleming asked: Does God enjoy being worshipped?

It is an important question and therefore deserves a post of its own. Worship of God has incredibly positive effects for the worshipper but what does it signify to God?

Although I suspected I knew the answer to the question, I asked God. In my very human vanity, I was gratified to realise my own instincts had been correct.

God told me:

Worship is for the benefit of the worshipper and not for me. In the same way that a child sometimes shuts his/her eyes and believes that everything disappears, people often believe that I am affected by their actions. In fact, I am devoid of human vanity or ego. The fact that atheists declare I do not exist does not affect my actual existence. If I had human attributes, I might be amused by their arrogance but in fact they are like children who attempt to change reality by making declarations. That sort of thing doesn't work!

Creatures who are controlled by time need to take 'time out' from their existences and their preoccupations. Worship is a method by which they can exist temporarily in a state of peace, relinquishing their control and their anxieties in an environment that is conducive to this. By creating a focus of worship of 'God', they must surrender control and exist in a place that is 'outside time and space' for a brief interval. This is extremely positive in every way. It allows emotional, spiritual and physical recovery from stress.

Furthermore, I am found to some extent in such concepts as 'Truth' and 'Beauty'. Places of worship tend to be created according to concepts of Beauty. They do not belong to individuals but rather to the community. A person who has no wealth therefore is as entitled equally to the place of worship as the rich one. If a place of worship is the 'House of God', it welcomes all persons equally and makes no distinctions according to wealth or worldly position. This is essential in spiritual terms. Any House of Worship should be a spiritual Home to every one who chooses to rest or meditate there.

No, I have to admit that I am not excited by notions of dominance and submission. These are attributes of lesser species. In fact, it puzzles me that humans so often attribute inferior emotions and characteristics to me. I certainly would not respect any 'God' who demanded submission and actually was pleased on some emotional level by endless bowing and scraping. I am above all Kings and potentates, but I do not need to prove it by demanding prostration from my creatures.

When you eat or sleep, you submit to my laws. Why would I need any evidence in terms of obsequious behaviour? On the other hand, submission is good for the soul. When an individual submits completely, he/she surrenders control, thereby letting go of anxiety and stress temporarily. This is what worship is about. By submitting only to God, who is BEYOND all rules and regulations, beyond all petty desires and needs, a person is submitting in total safety to one who is superior to himself/herself. This is an important, dare I say, even vital aspect of human existence.

Every individual has a need to submit, although many will repress that need through insecurity. To submit to God is to submit only to peace and perfect harmony. I do not require anything of those who 'worship' me.