We’ve all heard the term “homo sapien” — the biological description of the human being. We are all “homo sapiens,” insofar as we are all human beings. The term itself literally means “thinking human.” While that certainly may be true, oftentimes we find ourselves not thinking much at all and acting more on impulse. An alternative description of the human being may be more profoundly relevant.

The great 20th-century Romanian philosopher of religion, Mircea Eliade, chose a different designation for the human being — homo religiosus. Homo religiosus is the “religious human.” The implication is that the essential characteristic of every human being is our striving for transcendence — our desire for something more beyond ourselves. We are, according to Eliade, fundamentally “religious beings.” Whether we identify it or not, we all worship something or someone.

The atheist who doesn’t believe in God, or a “higher power,” nevertheless places something that is “above” as the focus of his or her attention. Something — whether it be ideas like freedom, love, or justice — seizes our attention, and we place that at the top of our hierarchy of attention. This is the very definition of worship, and it is this that makes us homo religiosus. The word “worship” comes from Old English and literally means “that which is worthy of our attention.”

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The point is, we all worship something or someone. We all place something at the top of our attention, and whether we like it or not, we worship it — we deem it worthy of our utmost attention and devotion. It’s unavoidable. The truth is, we are, at the heart of our nature as human beings, homo religiosus, worshipping creatures. We may worship money and affluence, we may worship personal freedom, pleasure, or we may worship abstract concepts like “justice” or “human rights.” The fact of the matter is that we are “worshipping beings” – homo religiosus.

The word “religious” has, over the years, come to take on a negative connotation. People in our day will often say “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” and what they mean by this statement is that they recognize their desire to experience something transcendent, but they don’t subscribe to some particular “religious” system.

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It might be helpful at this point to understand the true meaning of “religious.” The word itself comes from the Latin “re-ligio” which literally means to reconnect. Ligio, from which we derive “ligament” in English, a word that speaks of the ligaments that connect muscle to bone. Religion — far from being merely a description of traditions and rituals pertaining to various denominations or sects — is, at its heart, the reality that every human person, “homo religiosus,” seeks to be reconnected to that which is highest — the source of life, that which transcends the transitory nature of our existence. We’re hardwired this way. As the Psalmist says, “God has placed eternity in our hearts.”

I’m always curious as to who reads this column — who’s the audience? To use a cliché, I’m aware that I may be “preaching to the choir.” But I’m also aware that even those in the choir may be missing what’s really going on, and I’m certainly hopeful that those who don’t identify themselves as belonging to any religious tradition may stumble across this column.

The bottom line is that we all worship something, whether we admit it or not. We are all homo religiosus. My challenge to all readers, regardless of whether you go to church, regardless of whether you identify as adhering to a certain set of beliefs, is that you examine what you worship — what possesses you as most worthy of your attention.

This brings me to the practice of going to church on a Sunday morning, when we may very well choose to stay in the comfort of our homes and drink coffee watching the news shows.

The reality is that the people in church on any Sunday morning are imperfect, flawed, sometimes hypocritical human beings, just like anyone else. They have no position from which to claim superiority, or self-righteousness. They are just like everyone else — weak, struggling and enormously imperfect. The one difference, however, is that they are seeking to join together with others, to worship, to pay attention, to the One that is above all else — the One truly worthy of attention.

As Christians, we believe that the One most worthy of our attention, our worship, has come to us in the midst of our search for Him, in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the One who is truly worthy of our attention. Hence, we worship Him. We do so, knowing full well that we lack all the answers. We do so, knowing full well that we are inadequate, weak and flawed. But in Him, we see Life. In Him, we see the fulfillment of all our striving, of all our searching, of all that makes us homo religiosus — humans seeking to reconnect.

To join together in worship, to go to church, to join others on the journey, is the most important thing we can do. We are not individuals on this journey — we are persons in relationship with others and ultimately joined together in our relationship with that which is highest: God Himself. I encourage you to start the journey. I encourage you to embrace who you are as a human being — homo religiosus.

David Henderson is priest at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Christian Church. He can be reached at davidwh787@gmail.com or at 970-846-2245.