the lord's prayer

our father

does that mean we are all god's children? would that make others our brothers and sisters?

does that mean convicts or prostitutes or immigrants or gay people? 

that can't mean democrats and republicans, conservatives and liberals

... gasp ... trump and hillary?

who art in heaven

you mean the one in charge, the one looking down and seeing what we do

hallowed be thy name

oh yeah, no cursing.

or doing things in god's name that are hurtful, or hateful, or against the teachings of jesus

thy kingdom come

would that be the kingdom of heaven that jesus talked so much about? 

you know the one where the last shall be first and treating the least of these is how we treat god. 

the one you must give up all of your riches for.

thy will be done

visiting those in prison, welcoming the stranger in your midst, loving your neighbor as yourself

on earth as it is in heaven

does this mean we should glory in our earth as we will in heaven? 

would we trash heaven? 

would we destroy parts of heaven to give us what we want?

give us this day our daily bread

there goes that tricky us again. 

it doesn't seem like we should be asking just for ourselves does it? 

why doesn't it say give me? 

bread is enough for sustenance.... can we eat steak and potatoes, ice cream and cake when our brothers and sisters are dying of hunger?

lead us not into temptation

let us say no to drugs that harm our body,

let us say no to sex without commitment, 

let us say no to wanting the biggest house on the block while others are homeless, 

let us say no to thinking that we are better than another of god's children, 

let us say no to greed and a desire for power for ourselves...

and deliver us from evil

what is truly evil in this world

.. it is the serial killer, 

it is the person who abuses power given them to help. 

it is the child abuser. 

it is those who use god's name for things that are opposed to god's love


the rest is an add-on, but let's look at it.



for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

thine means not us. 

it is not our kingdom. 

it is not our power. 

it is not our glory.

none of it. 

we don't get to say how we think it should be. 

we don't get to take credit for winning souls, or being a good christian, or doing more of what's right.

a powerful prayer