Worshiping Alone

THIS WEEK I failed to arrangement for a ride to church, and since I really don't care much for driving, I think I'll stay home and appreciate, revere, and give thanks for this amazing life in the privacy of my own home,and the internet.One does not have to go to church to express love, gratitude, and admiration for the supreme being. "My religiosity consists in humble admiration of the infinitely superior spirit which reveals itself..." as Einstein wrote so eloquently. The most truly spiritual people probably don't really need or have a strong desire to attend church, but rather, to contemplate the amazing universe in which we live, the miracle of nature. Which raises the question: "why does the universe, why does anything exist"? And, of course, it may well be that nothing exists, that this seeming life in this apparent universe is nothing more or less than a dream, the great dream of the great dreamer.I can have a nice little worship service here at home, alone with my cat Mandi.It will be entirely mental, contemplative, and brief. My true form of existential appreciation this morning will turn out to have been in part my time exercising on my treadmill, which, after a couple of cups of good coffee, I am definitely in the mood for. Caffeine seems to be my drug of choice. I drink regular coffee every morning, and then burst forth upon the world in a glorious blaze of activity, usually exercise. This is a gorgeous day, warm and sunny, a good day to go running outside. For the time being, however, I think I'll hop on the treadmill and look out the kitchen window as I slowly but steadily turn up the speed on the machine and end up getting a good work out. This is also a great day to go out to the lake, and maybe hike or jog the trails, or along the highway, and it is a great day to merely walk out the front door, and start walking jogging or running along the road, at whatever pace feels best. As almost all regular runners doubtless know, whn running one can actually lapse into or settle into a sort of meditative zen state, with a very clear mind, and the oxygen producing mental state of exhileration, or "runner's high". Its very real, and its very pleasant,largely because of knowing that you have earned it. If we humans manage to avoid destroying each other, our dscendants might have an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful existence, bucolic, artistic, richly culturally rewarding, adding ever more to what they inherit from us. Einstein was once asked to contribut a message to a time capsule to be opened in one hundred years, sometime in the middle of this century. He wrote: "If you have not become kinder and more compassionate than we were, may the devil take you." Based on that criteria, you'd have to say that there seems to be a good chance that the devil will take us. Amazingly, we humans do indeed seem to be becoming less violent, more peaceful, over the centuries, statistically. Hard to believe, but statistically true. So, maybe there is hope. I like going to church and in the future will probably, for the most part, go. But I also relish being at home with a hot cup of coffee and a soft warm fuzzy kitten. There is still tiem to go to church if I decide I am willing to drive over there. Wither way, the important thing is to anjoy and appreciate completely every moment of every single day, which can be difficult but is always possible, and do basically the same thing at home I would be doing in church, giving thanks.