Five to one baby, one in five....no one here gets out alive. (Jim Morrison and The Doors)

Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all "sleep" but we shall all be changed...(Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, 1 Cor.15:51 and following)

Jim Morrison and the Apostle Paul seem to agree here on one thing...All of us are on a journey. It starts with our conception (thanks mom and dad) and it ends, as far as this plane of existence is concerned, with our passing from this place to the next...It would seem that we all are in the same boat here. So what does this have to do with worship?

Everything.

Worship is what we are supposed to be doing while we are on this journey. I don't mean the we are supposed to just hang around singing hymns, looking all spiritual and stuff a couple of times a week.What I mean is that in all we do, at work, at home, at church, at play, in every aspect of life we are supposed to, by our actions and thoughts, be worshiping God. Heck, I'll bet that at least some of you have sung that very thing, "In all we do we worship You". So the question changes from what to how.

How do we worship Him in all we do? Better yet, lets make that a little more personal. How can I worship Him all day, everyday, until I am "called home"? The answer to that question is, I cannot. Not on my own. This is the point where you would expect me to trot out some complex spiritual ritual or discipline, and tell you to maybe move to a monastery or something. That's not gonna happen...What I want to share with you is this...Try to live your life as if God is right there with you. Not in a "spooky spiritual" kind of way, but in a companion kind of way. Live like He is standing right there with you while you are doing the dinner dishes, or sitting right there with you as you type on your computer at work, or in the seat next to you as you fight your way through traffic on your way home. Talk to Him, just like you would talk to your wife, friend, coworker or who ever. And then listen. You will find that He will hold up his end of the conversation just fine.

There is a book written several centuries ago by a monk. Not a bishop, not a great evangelist, just a regular monk who didn't even enter the monastery until he was middle aged. His name is Brother Lawrence and the name of the book is Practicing the Presence. It’s a collection of letters compiled after brother Lawrence's death that outline how he lived his life in God’s presence. And how you can too.

Do I practice what I preach? Sometimes. I would love to tell you that I live each and every moment of my life as though God was right there with me. I know that I need to make a choice to do it or not, and I don't always make the right choice. I also know that when I choose to practice His presence, my spirit is calm and my soul sings! And when I forget, or choose to walk by myself, I am in turmoil. Something else to remember is that, choose correctly or choose poorly, God is always right there with me. It’s my task to acknowledge that, and acknowledge Him. Doing that moves me closer to being able to truly say that in all I do I worship You!

There is much much more that I would like to share with you on this subject and I'll try to have another "helping" ready for you next month. I'm sure that a good number of you have read this book, but if you haven't, please try to...It is available almost anyplace you can find Christian books.

Until next time, Randy

Randy Yewey is a 59-year-old born again Spirit filled believer. He lives in rural west-central Ohio with his wife of 35 years, his two daughters ages 34 and 31, and his three grandchildren 11, 4, and 2.