Worship as Silence or Song – St Augustine

What shall I say, O my God, my life, my holy joy? What can any man say when
he speaks of you? Silence offers the greatest eloquence, yet woe to him who
does not sing your praise.

From: Saint Augustine

Yielded – Walter Brueggemann

We yield, because you, beyond us, are our God.
We are your creatures met by your holiness,
by your holiness made our true selves.
And we yield. Amen.

From: Walter Brueggemann

 

Worship – William Temple

Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.  It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness,  Nourishment of mind by His truth,  Purifying of imagination by His beauty,  Opening of the heart to His love,  And submission of will to his purpose.  And all this gathered up in adoration is the greatest of human expressions of which we are capable.

From: William Temple

Holy – Alice Walker

Anybody can observe the Sabbath but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week.

From: Alice Walker, In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens

Celebrate Time – Abraham Joshua Heschel

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

From: Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath, p 10