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Worship
Living lives of 'worshipful service'
by Nathan Bierma
Perspectives
June/July 2006

In Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," the lovestruck knight Arcita is banished from the dukedom of Theseus, but he sneaks back in and disguises himself as a servant in the household of Emily, the woman he longs to be with. Arcita gains such a reputation throughout the dukedom as a noble person that Theseus' advisors recommend promoting him from servant to squire. In Chaucer's fourteenth-century words, the advisors tell Theseus to "put him in worshipful service."

"Worshipful service" is Middle English for something like "noble employment" or "honorable work"-a job fit for someone of good social standing and virtue. This archaic meaning of "worshipful" reminds us that in Middle English, "worship" could still mean "dignity," "honor," or "reputation." These meanings were related to the root of the word "worship," which is still partially visible today-it was the Old English "weorth," meaning "worth." In its earliest days, "weorthscipe" was literally "worthness," the appropriate treatment of something or someone of worth. The meaning of "dignity" for "worship" lasted at least until Shakespeare's time, when "your worship" could be used as a polite term of address, like "your majesty," as in this line from The Merry Wives of Windsor: "Will't please your worship to come in, sir?"

Chaucer's word "worshipful" reminds us that worthiness is a key concept, in etymology and in practice, when it comes to worship.

-Nathan Bierma, communications and research coordinator for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, writes the weekly "On Language" column in the Chicago Tribune.

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