Abraham was a man of perspective. He was not altogether overwhelmed by the proximity of things or their apparent perfection. If he had been able to visit the rose-red city half as old as time he would have marvelled but not without reservation. He would doubtless have been one of those who like fools admire, while men of sense approve. We know this about him because the writer of the letter to the Hebrews tells us that he went out to an uncertain future because he was looking for a city that has foundations, whose maker and builder is God.
Most of us are looking for something of the sort. We seek security, stability, a firm footing in life. The human scene has so many features of another type that we can well understand islanders looking for remoteness and hermits opting out of urban life and selecting a convenient cave as a shelter from a hostile environment.
Many with this frame of mind will think this is achievable but reckon the price is too high. We can reach out for stability but only if we live in a dream-world, a denial of current concerns about mortgages, tax rises, food shortages and lop-sided social structure.
It is true that some patterns of worship, particularly new arrivals in the song section, encourage this escape from daily chores into a world of make-believe spiritual fray. However, that is not the whole story. The performance of homage can be conducted in more straightforward terms. (The writer to the Hebrews lists a number (chapter 11)). Modern equivalents might be the elimination of smallpox, the education of the disabled and the care of older people.
As for the Sunday morning assembly, online events have changed our conception of the place of movement in worship. Without resorting to the corybantic extremes of the prophets of Baal we can probably remember services with dignified beginnings and endings and even robed processions.
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