Being too fond of a sort of tin god (6)
I believe the answer is:
doting
'being too fond of' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with fundamental existence as well as being present participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'a sort of tin god' is the wordplay.
'a sort of' indicates an anagram.
'tin'+'god'='tingod'
'tingod' with letters rearranged gives 'DOTING'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for doting that I've seen before include "Excessively fond" , "Overly fond, as husband may be" , "Foolishly fond" , "Showing excessive fondness" , "Overly fond of, say spouse" .)