The Heart of Worship

Yesterday we took a little excursion to Santa Cruz.  

The guys wanted to find a place to go cliff jumping, so we did a little googling, phoned a friend and headed to a spot in the redwoods known as "The Garden of Eden." 

We're pretty sure it's known as Eden not because of the landscapes' likeness to The Garden, but because of the nudity some websites warned may be present.  

Luckily, no nudists were in sight when we arrived. 

I prefer to think the name refers to the resplendent scenery that surrounded us... check this out.

Incredible right?

While the boys did this...

... i wandered around the river bend, took some photos, and enjoyed God's handiwork.  

The song "the heart of worship" kept playing over and over in my head as I hopped from stone to stone, trying not to drop my camera in the stream.  The story of this song is one that has deeply impacted me, reminding my to not make worshipping God about the feeling I get out of it or singing a certain style of songs.

But this day, the song reminded me of what the heart of worship really is. It's what's in my heart.  It's not what's on my lips, what's in my brain, or what's coming in though my ears. 

As I sat, enveloped by the sound of rushing water, the song playing over and over in my head, my heart was worshipping God more holistically than if my body were jumping up and down, and my mouth was screaming as loud as my lungs possibly could. 

I'll bring You more than a song/for a song in itself is not what You have required 
You search much deeper within/through the ways things appear/you're looking into my heart 

There's something so worshipful, so right, about sitting in God's presence in his creation. I get why Jesus went off by himself and prayed.  There's a special intimacy with God I've found in those redwoods. Something that can't be created, replicated or manipulated. 

I'm coming back to the heart of worship/And it's all about You/All about You, Jesus 
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it/When it's all about You/It's all about You Jesus