We Become What We Worship

 My Joyce sent this to me:

                We Become What We Worship

There are no atheists. We all worship something. Some of us worship money. Some worship our and others physical beauty. Some of us worship our possessions. Some of us worship our intellect. Some worship gaining power and control over others.

I submit that we become what we worship, that day-by-day, we become more deeply embroiled in those things that we consider all-important. Our life eventually centers about those things, to the exclusion of others. Therefore, I suggest you place great care and importance in what you choose to worship. Be acutely aware of where your devotion will lead you. The unrestrained reverence for money, physical beauty and the other things I’ve listed above can lead to unhappiness, feeling lost, deadness. Worshipping these can lead to greed, and fear, and loss of soul.

So, let me suggest that, at least as part of your supplication, you worship love. If you hold reverence for love, valuing the importance of love in your everyday life and giving your loving generosity to others and receiving other’s love in return, your life will be full with happiness.

First of all, the first paragraph does not depict me. From a religious point of view, I am an atheist. I appreciate those who are believers, but as a computer scientist, my focus is on me not a supreme being. I do not worship the list of things in paragraph one. However, the last paragraph is all about me. I worship loving others, loving life and loving myself. That's one of the reasons I'm a happy person. 

What good does worshiping possessions, money, power, ego, and beauty get you? Worshiping possessions will lead to never having enough. Worshiping power will lead to working all the time and being under great stress. 

Worshiping money will lead to two things. One, those who never spend the money they have will mean you never get all the thing life has to offer you. Two, those who do everything in their power to get more money. Once you have enough money to live out the rest of your life, the new money will only get you cosmetic stuff. People who worship money will never have enough cosmetic stuff.

Worshiping beauty will limit who you want as friends and family. People come in all sizes and shapes. If you worship beauty you may never see the good, the love, the happiness and the intellect in those who are not beautiful. 

If you worship beauty you will do anything to make yourself beautiful. Besides the cost and the pain it takes to make yourself beautiful, the fact is it will not work. You may be able to make your face beautiful, but you can't make old hands and legs look young. Seeing a 30-year-old face with 60-year-old hands is just - UGH.

Lastly, people who worship possessions, money, power, ego, and beauty are usually insecure. If those people find a way to lose their insecurity, they might realize that worshiping possessions, money, power, ego, and beauty will never lead to happiness.