Bowing

[photo taken at Gethsemani Monastery]

David says in Psalm 5, "In reverence I bow down toward your holy temple."

During the Protestant Reformation, bowing, kneeling, making the sign of the cross, anointing with oil -- these gestures were taken out of the worship service. It's now time to bring them back.

Using our bodies for worship and prayer adds to
the meaning of reverence and adoration. We Protestants have become afraid to pray with our bodies. We never kneel in church anymore. We never bow. We read the Psalms in worship where they say, "Let us bow down to t he Lord," but we don't bow down.

We need to embody prayer. The gestures of making the sign of the cross, anointing with oil, sprinkling water, kneeling, bowing, lifting up hands, etc, are Biblical gestures.

At the end of my prayers in the morning, I bow to God. It's a sign of reverence.

It wouldn't hurt if we bowed to each other out of reverence for the Christ who is in each of us.