Worship Thee for Thine Own Sake

I came by a wonderful prayer today as I was reading “Women Pray: Voices through the Ages, from Many Faiths, Culture, and Traditions”





God! If I worship Thee in fear of Hell, burn me in Hell:
And if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise;
But if I worship Thee for Thine own sake, withhold not Thine everlasting beauty.
- Rabi’a the Mystic

It is very easy to bend religion to our own ends out of fear or promise, or even desire. But while we may bend religion, we cannot bend God. Early Christianity focused on Hellfire and Brimestone, God’s wrath and anger. Later some became focused on the hereafter. Earthly matters were only of concern as they related to getting to Heaven. The truth, I believe, lies somewhere in between. There are things to fear and truths to be upheld. There is a heaven to work toward. But today, we must focus on the here and now. We must appreciate God’s gifts and also be thankful for our trials.

Recently, an old friend and I were discussing difficulties in our own past. Both of us have come to the conclusion that without these difficulties we would not be who we are and that even for these horrors we must thank God. We must thank him not for putting us through the trials, but for seeing us through the trials. It is not for us to judge why, but to accept our lives both good and bad and grow from it.

Job 1:21 “. . . "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I will depart. [c]
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised."