Arriving at the venue the Father took his son and took him to a place where, as ritual dictated, certain acts were engaged, words were said and conversations had. This part of the ritual complete the child was taken to the main place of worship and there was exposed to his first act of corporate worship. Sufficient to say that the child was not taken there again for a number of years and then, having seen some more of the worship on TV, they asked to go with their Dad to that place again.
And so they went and the child, now in his teens started to learn about the rules and regulations (we call them 'Laws') and learnt the names of the heroes of the faith. They learned the language and the songs that they sung in that place, the tactics of the enemy and the ways to counter them and be successful. Daily they grew in their knowledge and ability to emulate those heroes of the faith and eventually it was acknowledged that truly they had become a true follower, a disciple and (dare I say it) a bit of a fanatic.
On the days when worship was engaged and the, now a man, follower could not be part there was sadness. Being absent caused them pain and they would do whatever they could, even swapping work days with others to ensure they could be present.
When on holiday or on courses they would see out other like-minded folk and worship at their places. It didn't matter that they weren't part of the same faith, the act of worship and the way those who were at the front was similar and the goals were the same!
Now, if you're thinking that I'm talking about what we call 'religion' in the description above then you are right, but the religion in question is actually football and the place of worship was Highbury!
The thing is that this also works for those with faith and especially (in my context) the Christian faith (but I have Jewish and Islamic and 'other faith' friends for whom this model works equally well).
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