A simple and charming hymn, taken from the Books of Psalms and Chronicles, attached to a pleasing melody, and frequently used in church services, has these words. I love you Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you. O my soul, rejoice! Take joy, my King, in what you hear: May it be a sweet, sweet sound in you ear. The instructions say that this hymn is to be sung with feeling. On the opposite side of the same page is this hymn, used for that same worship service, the words and music composed by Michael W. Smith. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! O Lord, we praise your name! O Lord, we magnify your name. Prince of Peace, Mighty God, O Lord God Almighty. The single Lord words are stretched out for two bars as this hymn is sung. These hymns do not stand alone. Much of the hymnal is devoted to songs of varying intensity and tempo praising the Lord. Some drag, some are beautiful, some are militant, and all are to be sung with great feeling.
One has to wonder exactly what Lord those who sing these hymns so lustily are addressing. What picture is forming in their minds as they profess their enthusiastic love for their Lord? Is it the glorious picture that is painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel – or is it a shimmering all-powerful cloud, hovering somewhere out in space? If we are to believe Gallup poll numbers, virtually all who are worshiping in this manner believe that their God looks something like them, created the universe, is still creating, is in total control of their lives, does whatever He wants with their lives, is a male, and consists of total wisdom and goodness. Beyond these descriptions of the qualities of their God, they are unable to express whom or what it is to whom they are singing. Yet there is emotion involved in this singing. Many sing these songs fervently, obviously feeling that there is some force in the universe to which they should pay homage.
There is indeed, a long precedence for this worship of the Divine. As soon as there are expressions of art or language, in other words, those hallmarks that single us out as humans, separate from other animal life, we also see expressions of worship of Supreme beings of various types. To be sure, those concepts were poorly developed as opposed to current god concepts, but they seem to be a normal part of the conceptualization of the human brain. Humans created gods as soon as they became human, in order to express their wonderment of every thing that they did not understand, and have continued to express their devotion to the gods of their choice since that time. Their imaginations have not been limited. They have created just about every kind of god that can be created, whether a single entry or combined animal/human. Whether that has been a jackal/human, cow/human, beetle/human, lion/human, fish/human, or any other creature that you can conceive, humans, in their delightful fantasies, have created a deity which gave them comfort when they worshipped it. They felt that they owed their good or bad fortune to this polytheistic conglomerate, whichever part of it belonged to them, and success or failure in life depended upon how mindful they had been in expressing their devotion to their deity du jour.
Interestingly, although most humans today feel that they have become enlightened because they only worship one deity, they seem to neglect the fact that polytheism is still alive and well. We worship hot cars, beautiful women, handsome movie stars, war heroes, sports heroes, and erect statues (known in Biblical times as idols) to these various heroes all over each land. Every community has multiple places of worship and multiple humans, both dead and alive, to which they pay homage. Polytheism is alive and thriving. In one sense, our paganism has never left us. In another sense, there is nothing wrong with polytheism. It gives us purpose and resolve in life to have heroes of the past, whom we admire and attempt to emulate in our own lives. Polytheism serves a very useful purpose in our lives, and gives us direction which we would otherwise not have. Polytheism is a normal part of a healthy community – as long as we all remember to not carry that worship beyond our most important priorities – being supportive and loving toward our families, children and neighbors. That includes being compassionate toward all other humans and all other life, since we are all in this one life together on the only home that we have, planet Earth.
It is also embarrassingly naïve to smugly assume that because we now worship only one god, we are greatly enlightened. If what we are worshiping in song and deed is an entity that constantly manipulates our lives, is a Supermale father, who created all of the universe and is still creating, who looks something like us, who gave us control over all of the universe, and who can bring us back to life from a coagulated and rotted death, then we are indeed living our lives blindly. We have allowed ourselves to be captivated by a monstrous primitive myth, which leads us into destructive and hateful behavior. We have no evidence that any of the above myth is true. Every bit of knowledge that we have indicates that the universe runs on the laws of physics and chance occurrence, and not on the laws of mythology. Humans have developed as a species by the natural selection of their variable traits, which have been the most compatible with long- term survival in changing environments. All it took was death, time and sexual recombinations. We have no evidence that there is anywhere in the universe any anthropomorphic deity who gives a flying flop about anything that humans do.
It would be a tragic error to leave it at this negative pole, however. There is compelling reason to worship and love the Lord, the same as the reason we began worship as soon as we were human. We are overwhelmed at the vastness of the universe. We are awed at the great mysteries of the universe which as yet remain beyond our knowledge. We are stunned at our insignificance in relationship to all else that exists, and almost reflexively fall to our knees in homage and wonder that we should have this magnificent gift of life for this short period of time. We shout our praises for the opportunity to sense beauty and share love. We thrill at the chance to learn and create, growing in knowledge and understanding. For all these things we extend our utmost praise and soulful devotion. We love the Lord of chance, which has allowed us to have these marvelous lives for our short period of time on this Earth.