Sunday, October 21, 2007

The Joy of Worship through the Eyes of a Child

One of my favorite parts of the Mexican worship experience is the time for participation. This is an open invitation to each person present to come forward to share a song, a memory verse, or an instrumental. And the beauty of it is, the sharing is to glorify God, to honor God with our gifts, and to show our love for God through the use of those gifts. Sometimes there are only one or two people, other times there could be many. In Tzeltal village churches, this time for participation can last over an hour!

There is a family that has become involved in our little mission church. There are three young girls who had been severely neglected after they lost their mother. A Christian woman married their father, and she apparently made it her mission to nurture, heal and teach the love of God to these beautiful little girls. Their father remains ambivalent about the church, so their participation in worship is sporadic. But...when these little girls are in church....oh my, but they do glorify God in their participation!!!

As they sing, their heads are tilted back a bit and their eyes clearly fixed towards Heaven. Their hands motion, sometimes offering up praises to God, other times clutching their hearts to reflect their love for God. One cannot possibly witness their participation without recognizing their love for God and their gratitude to have God in their lives. They are truly angelic.

Someday soon, I hope to be able to add a picture to this post, but for now, just close your eyes and picture the scene. They are a reminder to us all that our worship is to glorify God and to demonstrate our love for God through the shared experience.

Thanks be to God for little girls (and boys) who love God and who remind us of the most important things in life.

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