Worship as habitat (Deuteronomy 26; Acts 15,36-16,5)

'And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance and possest it, and dwellest therein: that thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, ant shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there’ ‘And now, behold, I have brought the first fruits of the land, when thou, O Lord, hast given me.’
 
 The above ‘exchange’ between God and man is far more significant than the superficial eye would think. This basic rhythm of request for thanksgiving and responding to it is, actually, the source of ‘social healing’. Establishing this relationship with the Sustainer of Life, and cultivating it, generates a healing dynamic in society. This act of worship gives provides the person with a sense of relationships, mutual dependence, and responsibility. The human soul yearns for a self-image; the self-image like this! Through the ability to give thanks for life, we know and have the actual experience that we are not in a permanent flux and a random free-fall in history. Without this knowledge individuals and their culture, quite simply, goes mad. With this dialogue with Life our love has a habitat. And when love feels at home it becomes almost as powerful as his Creator; creative, compassionate, and renewed.
 
(That is why it was so important for the early church to sort out the freer, non-Jewish form of worship for the newly converted Gentiles. A new Europe sprang from this ‘house of loving observance’. ‘And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily’)

Musical engagement. You might like to listen to Telemann, Concerto in F Major. The order, clarity and harmony of the four movements give an illustration of the regenerative and healing power of worship. The human soul, at its core, should be resonated by this joy of security and grounded identity in God's Life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3BI8DZIfI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3BI8DZIfI