The following
The old Roman gods never had a personal relationship with any Roman person. No senator, general or emperor ever had Jupitor or Hermes say directly that the god would be their god and they, the people, would be the god's people.
The meaning of the ritual surrounding the worship dealt with the well being of the Roman State and the performance of the various liturgies before the gods. The exact performance kept the pathways between the State and the gods open. Thus, the State secured the favour of the gods.
Christian liturgical worship seems to have suffered somewhat from this notion. While, on the one hand, Jungian types assert that a good liturgy stirs something deep in our psychos in ways that no sermon can. On the other hand, we run the risk of making a fetish out of one or many aspects of the liturgy.
The OCD factor in my personality leaves me open to this. I have done this both in low and high church environments. I can still find myself like the dog chasing the car and having caught up with it, ... You know the rest. It's hell on the teeth.
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