LITURGY WITHOUT LOVE
There
was a man who invented the art of making fire. He took his tools and went to a
tribe in the north, where it was very cold, bitterly cold. He taught the people
there to make fire. The people were very interested. He showed them the uses to
which they could put fire – they could cook, keep themselves warm, etc.. They
were so grateful that they had learned the art of making fire. But before they
could express their gratitude to the man, he disappeared. He wasn’t concerned with
getting their gratitude or recognition; he was concerned about their
well-being. He went to another tribe, where he again began to show them the
value of his invention. People were interested there, too; a bit too interested
for the peace of mind of their priests, who began to notice that this man was
drawing crowds and they were losing their popularity. So they decided to do
away with him. They poisoned him, crucified him – put it any way you like. But they
were afraid that now the people would turn against them; so they were very
wise, even wily. Do you know what they did? They had a portrait of the man made
and mounted it on the man altar of their temple. The instruments for making
fire were placed in front of the portrait, and the people were taught to revere
the portrait and to pay reverence to the instruments of fire, which they
dutifully did for centuries. The veneration and the worship went on, but there
was no fire.
Where’s
the fire? Where’s the love? Where’s the drug uprooted from your system? Where’s
the freedom?
This
is what spirituality is all about. Tragically, we tend to lose sight of this,
don’t we? This is what Jesus Christ is all about. But we overemphasized the “Lord,
Lord”, didn’t we? Where’s the fire? And if worship isn’t leading to the fire,
of what use is religion except to create more division, more fanaticism, more
antagonism?
