Nov 05 2009
How and Why to Praise a God – I
Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. (1 Chronicles 16:23-25)
Human grooming is a verbal affair. And, in terms of religion — it’s a good thing. How could a person possibly groom a non-corporal entity?
How do human beings groom their god or gods? They pray to them; they sing to and about them; they speak about them.
It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. In terms of invisible beings, what good is a sword, or even attempts at physical touch? And so we use words, we speak. Words can cross gaps in space. Why couldn’t they also cross into an invisible realm?
To we humans, the spoken word has great power. In many origin mythologies, speech itself generates the physical universe.
“The god Ptah was said to have brought forth the world through thought and creative speech.” 13th-12th century, BCE. (78)
And God said, “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3, NIV)
“God said.” Words are indeed powerful. With or without the emotional information customarily combined with the expression of overt information. Speech is symbolic behavior with the power to motivate and move us.
In the most Hellenistic of the Gospels, John, we encounter perhaps the complete idealization of verbal behavior, spoken or written.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (1:1)
Religious scholar Karen Armstrong has noted, “In the ancient world, to know somebody’s name meant that you had power over him. God was not to be controlled and manipulated in this way.” (79) And thus the Jewish use of “LORD” and “GOD” vs. Zeus or any other specific name.
Tangentially, titles are still used today in ways relevant to control and status. Those who control others have titles such as president. Titles set people apart. Frequently above others. Word use matters to us.
Imagine a public debate over vaccines. One side refers to the work of Dr. Joseph Expert. The other drops the Dr. and criticizes Joe as just another guy with an opinion. We honor individuals by recognizing their status. We dishonor them by failing to speak highly of them. This is especially true for deities.
So no, “God” is not your average Joe.
To praise a god is to commend it, to elevate it.
Why elevate a god? To assure its high status . . . and your favorable relationship with it. Why is praise necessary? Status is in the minds of humans. And this is where the elevation takes place.
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant. (Psalms 135:3)
God may not have a body — and thus can’t be physically groomed (although he has been known to enjoy an animal sacrifice or two) — but he certainly is an emotional entity.
How does praise work? First, by complimenting others we groom them, we make them look attractive to others via our own appraisal of them. But there is this as well: By publicly praising a superior, the group pays attention to the superior. And the superior notices them favorably. Or at least not disfavorably. In his pioneering book, Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early, Walter Burkert wrote,
“[I]t is the superior who is made to pay heed to the inferior’s song or speech of praise. Praise is the recognized form of making noise in the presence of superiors.” (80)
Attention — the mere looking at another or toward others — is a potent psychological sign and influence. But, as a tool, it is not a one-size-fits-all-situations tool.
Consider this interesting phenomenon. A drill Sergeant demands that his rows of troops attend exclusively to him. Do not look away, keep your eyes on him. But that’s a one-on-many situation. When the Sergeant singles out a plebe and “get’s in his face,” the expectations change. The individual now averts his gaze. To stare eye-to-eye would be sign of equality and thus a disrespect of rank. The Sergeant will stare at the plebe while barking corrections and commands. And the plebe customarily stares straight ahead, into space.
So, when one-on-one with an alpha, look away. When in a group, attend to him or her.
Is it any wonder why, when in prayer — a supposedly intimate interaction with a deity — heads are bowed? But when singing praise as a group, there is no similarly required sign of deference. The reason? Social dynamics and the nature of praise. Compliments and praise carry more weight when the praiser is fully attending the praisee. Saying “honey, that was a fabulous dinner” carries less weight when given while a newspaper is propped before one’s face.
When in prayer, requests are made humbly, face toward the earth. As mentioned previously, the etymology of humble includes,
[F]rom L. humilis “lowly, humble,” lit. “on the ground,” from humus “earth.” (81)
Where did did these religious proscriptions and rituals come from?
“[A] monkey inviting allogrooming will not fixate or look at the groomer, but will usually turn its head way, either looking downwards, upwards, or sideways. This kind of behaviour is characteristic of appeasement gestures in species where fixating an opponent is a sign of dominance or threat.” (82)
So look down to pray. When singing praise, however, go ahead and raise your head and even your arms.
In Part II of “How and Why to Praise a God” we will look at specific examples of religious praise and how this behavior manifests our primate, hierarchical instincts.
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(79) Armstrong, K. The Great Transformation: The Beginning of our Religious Traditions, Knopf, New York, 2006, p .93
(78) Wilkinson, R.H., The Complete Gods and Godesses of Ancient Egypt; Thames & Hudson, NY, 2003
(80) Burkert, W., Creation of the Sacred: Tracks of Biology in Early Religions, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1996, p. 91
(81) http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=humble&searchmode=none
(82) Sparks, J., “Allogrooming in Primates: a Review,” in Morris, D. (ed.) Primate Ethology, Aldine, Chicago, 1967, p. 152
