In the act of worship itself, the experience of liberation becomes a constituent of the community's being . . . It is the power of God's Spirit invading the lives of the people, "building them up where they are torn down and propping them up on every leaning side".
Interpretation
Worship fosters a communal experience of liberation through divine connection.
This quote by James H. Cone emphasizes the transformative power of worship in a community. It suggests that through collective acts of worship, individuals experience liberation and support from the divine spirit, which strengthens and uplifts their lives, especially in times of struggle or degradation.
In practice
During a church service, the pastor quoted this while discussing the importance of community support.
Indeed our survival and liberation depend upon our recognition of the truth when it is spoken and lived by the people. If we cannot recognize the truth, then it cannot liberate us from untruth. To know the truth is to appropriate it, for it is not mainly reflection and theory. Truth is divine action entering our lives and creating the human action of liberation.
The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto).
Black racism is a myth created by whites to ease their guilt feelings. As long as whites can be assured that blacks are racists, they can find reasons to justify their own oppression of’ black people.
To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people!
How can you tell when a political ideology has become the equivalent of a religion?
They wonder much to hear that gold, which in itself is so useless a thing, should be everywhere so much esteemed, that even men for whom it was made, and by whom it has its value, should yet be thought of less value than it is.
Would that death were like this. Would that one would sleep and sleep and sleep forever.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.
Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.
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