Worship and Prayer
Eva on Jun 9th 2008 09:29 am
June 9, 2008
To me, this is perhaps the most complex part of religion, worship, etc. Very difficult to understand and deal with because it has so much more to do with our personalities and needs. I have and am still learning and trying to
better comprehend this subject because it flies in the face of the basis for choosing religion, or not in my opinion.
From what I know, God Itself, does not need or require worship.
God is impersonal, in that it provides what is needed for the person/spirit on the journey, but it does not operate under a lot of the emotional attributes human spirits often try and assign it. It is much, much simpler and clearer if we understand that it is simply executing a job, a task, which is to raise the next one.
Having said that, people on the other hand are quite emotional, needy and fragile.
Therefore we see our connection with an entity, spirit, nature, being, etc. from our own fragile, emotional, needy perspectives, often. The more logical we are, the less we need. The more emotional we are, the more we need to assign human attributes to this entity, so we can feel whatever we need to progress.
So be it. If that is where we are on our journey, then God allows us to be there, hence the many interpretations about the nature of God. Some need the touchy feely interpretations. Some need the wrath interpretations. Some are annoyed by the “loving God” or “wrathful God” interpretations, because of our personal security and how we take in new information. Some people cannot make progress unless they feel loved. From what I know, this is a product of their incarnated journey and where they are at this point in development. Others cannot make progress without rational, logical thinking absent of a lot of emotion. That is why some people are cryers and others never cry (like me - if I’m crying, I’m out of control and want to hurt someone - right now, so whereas crying is cathargic for some, it is dangerous for me generally - unless its a AT&T commercial, which really gets on my nerves).
So when you have a person who needs an emotional setting and situation in order to be able to make progress because they have assigned a lot of things to and within that emotion, that is what they gravitate toward in their view of God. If you have one who needs the logic and rationality of it, they will find an emotional need for love, and need for worship, which translates to placation or appreciation of God, and related emotions absurd. One does not make the other invalid though, as long as one does not work to take away other’s rights to be as they are, and see things as they see them for their development. Both are right because their make-up is totally different and that is as it should be this time. They came here as they are and with the lessons that surround whatever that is.
Friday a friend called upset about how she missed something at work, and it became evident in a setting that was grossly uncomfortable. She explained what happened in great detail, over what took about 30 minutes. I have learned that when that happens, usually, she is looking for a way to deal with it and wants help trying to figure out what she did or didn’t do to cause the discomfort, and deal with the life lesson. So that is what I was accepting would probably be my role in this situation. At the end of it, I asked if she wanted my opinion. She said yes. She didn’t mean it.
The problem is that what she wanted, because she is more emotional, was just to vent and for me to agree with her and tell her how she was wronged. Because of the way I think, I went for trying to find the lesson and how to build upon it and avoid a bigger one in the future through understanding. This also included not ignoring her responsibility in the events, which she clearly did not accept, I found later.
The next morning, she was angry with me and we talked it out. What we realized is that as I have told her, I am only good for about 3 minutes of self-involvement, and then we have to get to the problem solving or else I can’t listen to that anymore. What she wanted was to lick her wounds for a lot longer than 3 minutes. What we came up with is that I’m not the one to call when that is what she needs, which I’ve said before, but she hasn’t heard it yet. I expect her to forget again, but what will change is that I won’t, or will at least will try not to forget. So the question I am to ask, or she is to say is “are you looking for emotional support, or a methodology to deal with the lesson?” We hope that will change future issues that arise like this because she operates from primarily emotion, and I operate from primarily action based thinking. We both found an operation system that should in theory work because I can then remind her that I am only good for about three minutes of that before problem solving kicks in, and that if she needed more time in that zone, maybe she needs to call another friend we know who is way better with that kind of stuff.
God’s guidance is sort of like this. You get what you need from God, but it will not be what the person next to you needs, not exactly. And to expect it to be so, simply sets up conflict with that person who is very different from you, and distracts you from your own relationship with God and the time it takes to navigate your own personal growth and spiritual lessons, whether in a single life, or one of many lives. It is however, the reason that we form fellowships, unions, organizations and yes, churches, so we can operate with like minded, and from my opinion, like operational - which is more important maybe - people. Kinship in operation, which is best delivered with respect for other’s rights outside of that kinship group.
From the readings that I give people, I am amazed at how they are delivered. I am more amazed that they are exactly, and I do mean EXACTLY what that particular person needs for their growth, delivered in the verbiage, cadence and with the nuances that are designed for that person. That is why I know this is real, as I could not make it up. I have had readings that I would not dare think up on my own to say to someone for fear that they would go out and commit suicide, and I am told that they will not react that way, and that I am the problem trying to overthink and decide for them what is appropriate.
About a year ago, I had my first reading that I was to give to someone that said she had 3 years to live unless she changed some very specific things in the way she saw the world, and that knowing this was essential information she needed to have in order to grow. I was also told to trust that the way I saw that information was not at all the way she would see it and that I would be surprised. I wasn’t about to give that woman that reading, period. After several very uncomfortable demonstrations that I don’t run anything here, I invited her over to deliver this nightmare. Mind you, 98% of the readings I do are all e-mail and I have never seen the client, but I needed to look at her, or call an ambulance or apologize and beg forgiveness or whatever in this case, so I wanted to be looking at her as I went through this hell.
She sat down, read the reading which was about 9 pages long ultimately, and when she got to the part about the three year death, she said, and I quote because I will never forget what a demonstration it was of how differently we all think and are designed to think, “Thank Jesus, God and a few other folks. Because I sure am tired of this life. Now what do I need to do to make this go well, this afterlife thing?”
I was astounded, and so we talked about the parts that said that would be premature because she had other things to do, and she was disappointed that she had to stay and work, according to the reading, in order to meet all her goals this lifetime because basically, she was so concentrated on leaving, that she wasn’t doing the work.
All that is to say that nature is impersonal, and so is God if someone considers It different from nature, in contrast, we are not. And it is our interpretation of the information and lessons that guides the manner in which we take this journey. So all the intricate parts will always look different for each person and what you might find silly, is absolutely essential for another person’s growth. Worship may be an element that is needed for one person to connect to the lesson(s), while it might distract another. Again, neutrality in approach and acceptance and tolerance of people’s differences seems the best way to approach it to me. I find that it is most useful to hear why another person is seeing something one way, and see how that information applies to my lessons. Believing in a religion may just be part of the process to get to whatever new understanding is due for a person, which is why so many people search and move around in their belief systems. It may be a vehicle or catalyst for something else, and people seldom utilize all the parts of such a system, but instead use the parts they need.
Prayer is something totally different however. It is pure energy exchange or transmission. It is like dialing up a cosmic phone, a click of a light switch to communicate with others, if used properly. It can also be an excuse to beg and not take responsibility for your actions too, but that is the worst case scenario.
copyright - Eva Ravenwood, 2008
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