Entering Worship
I was thinking about the parallel between entering the training hall and entering worship.
When we enter the training hall we are asked to "check our egos at the door". As martial artists we are asked to leave the cares of our lives at the door and to enter the training hall with an open mind, the beginner's mind.
We are asked to focus on discipline, on training; on the goal of what is being presented. We are asked to put aside ourselves and go beyond where we were at previously in training. We are asked to expect to grow and get better.
As we enter the training hall we are asked to humble ourselves and work in a cooperative effort with those around us and the instructor.
In the training hall we are asked to be disciplined, to show strong spirit, to be courageous, to be quiet and listen as the instructor speaks and demonstrates; then we are asked to take the information and act on it and work together with others to delve into the information and techniques and practices, in order to grow and struggle and reach higher and highter in the arts.
If you think about it everything written here also applies to entering into worship. We owe God all we give our instructors and we owe him more. When we enter into worship, we are to enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise; when we enter into worship we enter the spriritual training hall. Don't be afraid to apply what you would do in the training hall to what you bring to worship and if there are thoughts, feelings and behaviors that you have while training that you would not bring into the worship hall then you should examine them in the light of God's grace, perhaps they don't belong in the training hall after all.
Email: loki@ris.net
