freedom to worship

on saturday nite while at church i was fascinated watching two mentally challenged young men during worship. they obviously were not hindered by what others thought. they threw themselves into worship with such joyous abandon that i could not keep my eyes off them. i imagined how God must have smiled when He looked down on two of his precious children just loving Him to pieces. i admit it - i was envious of them. i wanted to have that freedom.

we live in such an uptight society...appearance is everything it seems. how do i look? what do people think of me?

i have at times felt such freedom - particularly in our little church in Costa Rica. they too worship with the same joyous abandon. in Costa Rica it is the norm, it is not unusual. its infectious. the first year there i stood to the side and watched, but it did not take long for me to feel that same freedom to worship. i remember thinking each time i came home: i will worship with this same spirit. it never seemed to work out that way. our society is very different. oh, i know that there are those who do feel the freedom regardless of where they are. but overall i think we are just product of our society - uptight and self-conscious. i'm not sure its a good thing. how i long for a good Costa Rican worship service.... how i long to feel the freedom....