Our Father, music, or humanity?

“You know the great thing, though, is that change can be so constant that you don’t even feel the difference until there is one. It can be so slow that you don’t know that your life is better, or worse, until it is. Or it can just blow you away; make you something different in an instant.” –George, Life As A House

As we stood in the dark singing, “Don’t let me go,” I couldn’t help but wonder who we were singing to? Was Isaac leading us in worship to Our Father, or to the god of music, or to the greatness of humanity?

Just three years ago I considered myself a worshiper with no boundaries. I found freedom in worship—freedom which meant being comfortable closing my eyes, raising my hands, and dancing. Over time, this comfort began to decrease. I began to criticize other worshipers because I saw those who experienced emotion in worship but no depth in life. I wonder if that was me back then. I wonder how I got here.

The difference between me then and now is the depth in my life and the way in which I experience worship. I don’t limit myself to the traditional worship experience, though I do find that worship services are some of the most meaningful times in my life. Instead, I believe that when I appreciate Creation, when I try to love others and do something selfless, when I ‘let go and let God,’ I worship because of my enchantment with the world and the presence of Almighty God in it.

Getting here has been such a slow change that I didn’t even realize it until Sunday night when I found myself worshiping with a crowd of thousands. I’m just not sure we were all worshiping the same thing. I’m not even sure if I was only worshiping Our Father. I may just have well been worshiping the music or the accomplishments of humanity. I wonder if well-played loud music in a dark setting with deliberately bright lighting on the players may just create a certain emotion and physical reaction for human beings. What is the purpose of a concert anyway? What is the purpose of a concert setting in a worship service? What does it mean that I acted the same way at a concert this week as I did just a few years ago in worship services?