Where the worship is

I've often said that church services are where we get the resources to worship in our daily lives rather than where we actually worship; you know, Romans 12:1 in action.

This morning I cam across this wonderful quote from Colin Morris (in the Finan Readings from Celtic Daily Prayer) that says it so much better than I ever have; reflect on this (he is, of course, referring to what people do when they come to church):

'The worship of men and women spending themselves in compassionate action would have an air more of desperation than formality. They would stagger into church utterly drained of goodness, unable to face another day unless their numbed spirits were re-sensitised and their strength renewed. They would be too hoarse to sing, too stiff to kneel, and too dog-tired to take away any long exhortations from the pulpit. They would await the reading of the lesson with something akin to dread as God presented them with yet more impossible demands. Every false word in the service would stand out like a sore thumb and pretentiously ornate language would be heard no more. Instead, they would gasp out a single litany exposing the horror and pain and misery they had shared, asking God to show them Jesus in it.'

There's living!