God & Worship

We are not in a position to give a precise definition of God. Nobody is. What we can do is to turn ourselves to the source of our being - to creativeness, to the power and the glory, to the force that draws us on to create goodness and loving - kindness - and to this we say "God".

Experience of God is what matters, rather than words about God. Words are only pointers to the experience. We can understand that for some people even the word "God" itself may be unhelpful. That does not mean, however, that they are cut off from the reality the word points to.

Wherever people have sought truth, loved beauty, worked for justice and known goodness, not in religion only but in the many non-religious channels present in the world, the love of God is active; it is "broader then the measures of man's mind".

Unitarians do not think of worship as a ritual bowing down before some almightily potentate. For us it is an expression of our sense of wonder. It is a celebration of those things that are of supreme worth. "Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things." St. Paul's words still give us the best definition of worship.

Prayer and meditation are ways of focusing attention on what is most valuable; they are not magic.

© Rev A Howe 2007