IT’S a good question to ask. We have
good reason to think
that we are losing this most fundamental human need. And we should be
concerned about this, and do something about it. Otherwise, we would
be deforming our humanity.
We need to ask this question because we are now seeing
cases upon cases worldwide of quarrelling, mudslinging, fault-find,
cursing, backbiting and backstabbing, all indications of losing the
attitude of praising God. We practically do not hear anymore nice,
positive words about others.
And if some good words are said, we can’t help but
suspect, based on our common experiences, that they are not that
sincere, or that there are hidden strings attached, or even traps laid
stealthily.
In the world of media, for example, there’s such a lot of
hype, bombast and frivolity that we would not know what the truth or
the real intention of the people involved is. Things are not said
plainly as they should. Layers of ulterior motives are quite
perceptible.
It’s even worse in the world of politics where with
runaway partisanship, we see an alternation of bootlicking and brazen
attacks, simplistic branding of people and sophisticated
rationalizations. Candidates and public officials are regarded either
as thoroughly evil incapable of any good, or thoroughly good incapable
of any evil.
In the face of all these anomalies, many have become
indifferent, if not sceptical and cynical about things. These are
clear escape mechanisms that do not solve anything but rather worsen
things.
We have to look into whether we really are still praising
God. That would indicate whether we are still with God or just by our
own selves, relying simply on our own devices. That would indicate
whether we are quite clear about the Creator-creature relation we have
with God.
When we are truly aware of who God is and of who we are,
the fundamental reaction we would have is to praise and adore him,
since we would surely know that absolutely everything we have and that
is around us comes from him. Everything comes from him and belongs to
him.
It is this awareness that constitutes the fundamental
attitude we have not only toward God but also toward everything else
in life and in the world. It’s what gives us the basic perspective of
reality, giving us a proper sense of priority.
It gives us a sense of intimacy, something very important
for us since without intimacy we would be moving toward becoming
automatons. It gives us a sense of the sacred while immersed in the
world. Thus, we could keep seeing God in everything, even in our
mundane affairs.
If this attitude is compromised, everything else somehow
would also be distorted. Our understanding and reaction to things
would be gravely limited, since they would lack the spiritual and
supernatural dimensions of our life. We would be vulnerable to fall
into confusion, fears, doubts and despair, or to the other extreme of
presumption.
We have to see to it that this need to praise of God is
very alive in us, affecting us not only intellectually, but also
emotionally. More than that, it should so affect us as to move us to
make deeds worthy of being intimate with God. The whole person should
be permeated by this need.
We have to be wary of playing games with this need,
something that we are also very capable of doing. We can go through
the motions of praising, making some lip service, but our mind and
heart are not actually in it.
We can sing and dance, but still the spirit is absent. It
would just be a merely physical, mechanical exercise, or an act of
fawning or flattering. It can be showy, and yet can show hardly
anything as fruits of praising.
Or praising would just be a sentimental expression with
hardly any meat and substance in it. Praising simply becomes a
function of our emotions and feelings at the moment. It is more for
our benefit than for truly paying homage to God that by definition
would involve deeds of self-giving.
Let’s try that every morning, we do some praising so that
we can be filled with awe by the grandeur of God’s majesty, and by his
wisdom and power. It’s not without reason that the beginning of the
daily priestly prayer called breviary is a prayer of praising God.
“Let us rejoice in the Lord, with songs let us praise him,
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its
peoples,” it says, setting the tone for the day.
that we are losing this most fundamental human need. And we should be
concerned about this, and do something about it. Otherwise, we would
be deforming our humanity.
We need to ask this question because we are now seeing
cases upon cases worldwide of quarrelling, mudslinging, fault-find,
cursing, backbiting and backstabbing, all indications of losing the
attitude of praising God. We practically do not hear anymore nice,
positive words about others.
And if some good words are said, we can’t help but
suspect, based on our common experiences, that they are not that
sincere, or that there are hidden strings attached, or even traps laid
stealthily.
In the world of media, for example, there’s such a lot of
hype, bombast and frivolity that we would not know what the truth or
the real intention of the people involved is. Things are not said
plainly as they should. Layers of ulterior motives are quite
perceptible.
It’s even worse in the world of politics where with
runaway partisanship, we see an alternation of bootlicking and brazen
attacks, simplistic branding of people and sophisticated
rationalizations. Candidates and public officials are regarded either
as thoroughly evil incapable of any good, or thoroughly good incapable
of any evil.
In the face of all these anomalies, many have become
indifferent, if not sceptical and cynical about things. These are
clear escape mechanisms that do not solve anything but rather worsen
things.
We have to look into whether we really are still praising
God. That would indicate whether we are still with God or just by our
own selves, relying simply on our own devices. That would indicate
whether we are quite clear about the Creator-creature relation we have
with God.
When we are truly aware of who God is and of who we are,
the fundamental reaction we would have is to praise and adore him,
since we would surely know that absolutely everything we have and that
is around us comes from him. Everything comes from him and belongs to
him.
It is this awareness that constitutes the fundamental
attitude we have not only toward God but also toward everything else
in life and in the world. It’s what gives us the basic perspective of
reality, giving us a proper sense of priority.
It gives us a sense of intimacy, something very important
for us since without intimacy we would be moving toward becoming
automatons. It gives us a sense of the sacred while immersed in the
world. Thus, we could keep seeing God in everything, even in our
mundane affairs.
If this attitude is compromised, everything else somehow
would also be distorted. Our understanding and reaction to things
would be gravely limited, since they would lack the spiritual and
supernatural dimensions of our life. We would be vulnerable to fall
into confusion, fears, doubts and despair, or to the other extreme of
presumption.
We have to see to it that this need to praise of God is
very alive in us, affecting us not only intellectually, but also
emotionally. More than that, it should so affect us as to move us to
make deeds worthy of being intimate with God. The whole person should
be permeated by this need.
We have to be wary of playing games with this need,
something that we are also very capable of doing. We can go through
the motions of praising, making some lip service, but our mind and
heart are not actually in it.
We can sing and dance, but still the spirit is absent. It
would just be a merely physical, mechanical exercise, or an act of
fawning or flattering. It can be showy, and yet can show hardly
anything as fruits of praising.
Or praising would just be a sentimental expression with
hardly any meat and substance in it. Praising simply becomes a
function of our emotions and feelings at the moment. It is more for
our benefit than for truly paying homage to God that by definition
would involve deeds of self-giving.
Let’s try that every morning, we do some praising so that
we can be filled with awe by the grandeur of God’s majesty, and by his
wisdom and power. It’s not without reason that the beginning of the
daily priestly prayer called breviary is a prayer of praising God.
“Let us rejoice in the Lord, with songs let us praise him,
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its
peoples,” it says, setting the tone for the day.
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