“Few things are more cathartic, more catalytic than worship. Why? Because that’s what we were created to do. You can’t not worship. Either you will worship God with a capital G or you will substitute a lesser god. Not only does worship improve vagal tone, but it also gets us on God’s wavelength.”- Mark Batterson
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth; their words to the ends of the world.”- Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV)
Mark Batterson concludes Chapter 5 of A Million Little Miracles as he describes how the vagus nerve flips the switch between two divisions of labor in the autonomic nervous system. Above all, Mark states that singing serves as a most efficient and effective way to flip that switch.
Because the vagus nerve signals the muscles of your larynx. That signal controls the pitch of your voice. But, Mark adds, this process is a two-way street. For when you sing that stimulates the vagus nerve. Thus, vagal tone improves. As Navaz Habib notes, “The vagus nerve is the conductor of the human body symphony orchestra.”
In conclusion, Pastor Batterson answers the question, If your wonder switch is off, how do you flip it on? Take a two-foot field trip. In other words, go outside, look down, and consider the lily. Or look up and count the stars.
Finally, Mark notes, in Greek the words for wonder and miracle share the same etymology. They’re two sides of the same coin. Therefore, in order to recapture childlike wonder, start by rediscovering everyday miracles. Nothing gives glory to God like the wonder of a child. As Thomas Carlyle once said:
“Worship is transcendent wonder, wonder for which there is now no limit of measure; that is worship.”
Today’s question: What most helps you worship God with a capital G? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The dandelion principle”