You know about the mariner's compass, its needle pointing always to the north, and showing us which directions are north, east, south, and west. It is said that one kind of ancient Chinese compass had five points. It had north, east, south, west, and where you are right now.

We might wonder about the accuracy of this, but the idea is a fascinating one. Those points yonder, all four of them, are rather meaningless to me unless I can think of them in relation to where I am. It's hard to know which way I should go unless I have some notion of where I'm starting from. I must know my position, locate myself, see myself in context, in relationship.

And all of this is quite true also in our personal lives as we make our pilgrimage across the years. We need some perception of where we are - in relationship with God, in relationship with others, in relationship with life. We need to identify our position if we are to know how to reach our goal. And this is one of the many values of worship - that we may find ourselves, see ourselves where we are. Then we have a clearer view of where we ought to be and a better understanding of how to get there. Wherever it is we are going, we must start right here.