The Lord's prayer - an essay

Apologies for the hiatus...

The Lord's Prayer; an essay

The prayer opens with, 'Our Father'; not 'my', nor 'yours', but 'ours'. Jesus puts himself on the same footing as us. He and we are equal in our standing before God. This is a radical development from the Old Testament, from a God 'hiding' behind the ceremonial curtain in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. A God who could only be approached directly once a year, by a High Priest elected by lot, on the Day of Atonement. Jesus is already drawing back that curtain, offering an intimate, familiar relationship, strongly implying that this is the true state of things. God isn't hidden; He is revealed as Father. Our Father.

Many women have been hurt by their fathers. Some have been abused. Some women have had men hurt them again and again and pound them down to an emotional nothing. Men are the enemy, and if God is Father, they cannot relate. Of course, 'Father' does not necessarily exclude 'Mother'. The original Aramaic spoken by Jesus has been preserved in the Syriac gospels. Jesus' phrase, 'Abwoun d'bishmaya' is capable of being translated several ways including, 'O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos '¹ . Jesus also calls his Father, 'Abba' which is 'Daddy'. Our Father God is closer than our very breath!

'Who is in heaven'. As well as being very close, our Father God is also transcendent. When we go on to say "who art in heaven", we're saying Heaven, God's place, God's home is also our home.

"Our citizenship", says St Paul in one of his letters, "is in heaven"; that is, heaven is where we belong. Yet the full reality of heaven is beyond our limited human understanding. Where is heaven? Is it here? In bare Winter branches, in bird song, in the chimes from a church? Yet Jesus also says, 'The kingdom of heaven is within you '² . So even our limited humanity is carrying a piece of heaven? This is a cause for wonder, not boasting! We envision and prepare for the new creation, for our ultimate Home.

Next comes, 'Holy is your name' as a prayer that people may regard God's name (which is his Word, his presence) as holy, as something that inspires awe and reverence, and that we may not trivialize it by making God a tool for their purposes, to put others down or make ourselves feel safe. A church building is set aside for worship. Arches point upwards, encouraging thoughts of holiness. By invoking God's name, we make a sacred space in which to pray. Hopefully, we remember not to be trivial. The Father wants to seal us with his Name so that we will be united with him, like the Father and the Son united by the Holy Spirit. We are affirming God's holiness and reminding ourselves, that we may we treat His name as holy.

'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven'. God's will, not ours. Whatever part we have to play, whether large or small in the world's eyes is according to the will of God. So, our task is to surrender. This will probably take a lifetime! Not just ourselves, but our hopes and fears; our loves and our desires. The angels and other heavenly beings do God's will instinctively, naturally, all the time. Everything in this world that is created and subject to time depends on another, uncreated world, where time does not exist and which is nothing less than the mystery of God. There the Father sees the universe unified in Christ and his will fulfilled and glorified by all. We struggle and fail, however our call is to also do God's will. 'Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty' ^3. One day, Jesus will return.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.⁴

'Give us this day our daily bread'. Just for today; enough. God is similar to a business partner, everything we need to live our life fully is available through God's investment in us and his support.

Jesus said, 'If you believe, you shall receive' .

If you believe, you shall receive

There is no trouble or care that Jesus can't relieve

Oh, he is just the same today; all you gotta do is trust and pray

Believe, you just believe ⁵

But receiving springs out of gratitude. We give thanks for all the little things we have already got. The thanksgiving prayer at the Eucharist is a preparation for the consecration which follows. The one may help enable the other! Wild creatures find daily food. Humans may be nourished by nuts and fruits on trees, by regular food, as well as the weekly Eucharist. The beauty, noise and silence of the world may nourish us.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Refrain:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings—wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.⁶



'Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors'. This is possibly the hardest part for many people, especially if they have suffered mental or physical abuse. However, holding on to the anger, hurt, resentment or disappointment only hurts ourselves. We are all wounded or imperfect in one way or another, so we can easily lash out in our pain and distress. The shop assistant, the bank teller, the cabbie, the neighbour, the friend. All of them are doing the best they can most of the time. This calls for deep compassion, especially to ourselves! The whole world does not revolve around us either! After all, the prayer says, 'forgive us OUR debts'. We work on ourselves, with God's love and assistance. Jesus asks us not to judge others. The only person we can change [with God's help] is ourselves! We are flawed, but we can help each other along the way. Perhaps, 'Leave us serene, just as we also allowed others serenity'.

'Bring us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil'. Apart from any outside influences, there are plenty of things humans wittingly or unwittingly put in place as a barrier between them and God. The biggest one, arguably, is ego. Anything that puts us 'above' God, 'above' our fellow human beings, 'above' God's plan for us. How can God fill us if we are too full of ourselves? How can we possibly help anyone else if we think of ourselves first? Wars have been started by people overdosed on ego and fuelled by the same. Think of any recent dictator; not in judgement, because there but for the grace of God go you and I. If you can, be compassionate. That dictator is stuck, lost, running on ego. He – or she – is trapped by and in the very regime which tries to control others. Sadly this has also happened in the church too. Working on this will take a lifetime, but we can make a start, right now. Remember our loving Father is in charge and loves all of us equally. God can guide us along the Way. He also prunes us of anything diseased or dead, so that we can flourish afresh.

'For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours; now and forever. Amen'. We return to the creative visioning of God, of him being above all and in all. Our song of praise returns to its Source. This is God's kingdom, not ours, although we are part of it by grace. What He says, goes. What He bids, we seek to do. This is His power, not ours. We cannot depend on our own power. This is God's glory, not ours. For it is when He is glorified that the world makes sense, that we find the heart’s yearnings finally satisfied. We end with the 'amen'; the 'Yes, I agree', the 'and so it is'. This seals everything which has gone before. Ivy and other evergreens in the parks outside are always green. A natural sign of the greater eternal.

Green grow’th the holly
So doth the ivy
Though winter blasts blow ne’er so high
Green grow’th the holly

Gay are the flowers
Hedgerows and ploughlands
The days grow longer in the sun
Soft fall the showers
Full gold the harvest
Grain for thy labour
With God must work for daily bread
Else, man, thou starvest
Fast fall the shed leaves
Russet and yellow
But resting buds are smug and safe
Where swung the dead leaves
Green grow’th the holly
So doth the ivy
The God of life can never die
Hope! Saith the holly⁷

¹ [Syriac Pershitta Gospels/Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz]

² [Luke 17: 20, 21]

³ [Anne Herbert, probably!]

⁴ [Teresa of Avila]

⁵ [Chorus, writer unknown]

⁶ [Johnson Oatman Jnr]

⁷ [Attr. King Henry VIII]

Other sources used:

The Source of Miracles by Kathleen McGowan

Christian Community Bible

My Twitpic stream

Following my bliss

I was brought to Glastonbury [UK] for a reason. Well, several reasons! To get the call to ministry. To raise a family [done, they're off being adults in the world]. To get ordained [done]. To open to Spirit more and more fully. To work in an ecumenical Celtic Christian community and live the old monastic rhythm of work, prayer and study. To travel the world and discover ‘home’ in New Zealand.

To be called again two months ago with words of fire, ‘I want this more than anything else!’. What is the ‘this’? Could be to train as a Lay Reader in the Church of England. Might even be to get one of those uncomfortable-looking backwards collars and be a Vicar. Might be something else. In the middle of this, being a remote member of the Community of Aiden and Hilda based on Lindisfarne, I discover that there’s a St Aiden church in Malibu. Maybe God is starting to point a finger further Westwards. That’s the unknown!

San Diego in general and some observations

Pop = 3 million.

1. Balboa Park.  It's gorgeous and well worth a visit. Lots of grass and trees, plus regular maps to show you where you are, which was very handy for a first timer. I walked over a lovely bridge across the freeway and into a sprawling complex of Spanish style buildings [not surprising, given how close San Diego is to Mexico]. These include a hot house which looks like a huge bird cage. I proceeded to the zoo and spent seven hours there [with a lunch break!] seeing all the animals. There's a free tram which runs around the park and I hopped on that to shorten my return journey. The driver is planning to come to Nottingham and was asking for information!

2. Flying home

The plane took off and headed out over the Pacific before performing a U turn to get to Detroit. We flew over California and the terrain soon became brown, desert-like and craggy. But the more fertile plain is laid out in huge regular squares, as far as the eye can see. In this part, the squares were mostly filled with circular patches of green - crops? - which made me think of a giant sheet of green stickers! Then the terrain reverted to desert and became even rockier, looking just like aerial shots from a cowboy movie!  We went over the Grand Canyon; I recognised it by the look of it and the green river at the bottom, plus the stewardess confirmed my guess.  Then, more regular green squares; mostly farms and small collections of houses. The only thing which altered the pattern were hills, the odd freeway and pesky meandering rivers! We went over Lake Michigan and finally into Detroit itself, which was a lot greener than I'd expected. Tree lined streets, small lakes and lots of grass. And still the basic square pattern. I mean, I knew; but I'd never flown low enough over the US to see this phenomenon so close.

Pix [http://www.flickr.com/photos/30367056@N02/sets/72157624644019792/ ]

SDCC part 2

SATURDAY

Got up about 4.30 a.m. [yes, really] to get in line for the 'Chuck' panel at 10 a.m. I was in full 'Wienerlicious' mode, so got some comments. I was even recognised by a handful of folk in the line!! When we finally got to it, the panel included; Mark Christopher Lawrence, Scott Krinsky, Vik Sahay, Ryan McPartlin, Sarah Lancaster, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez and Zac Levi with writers  Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz. The panel was moderated by Alan Sepinwall and Daniel Fienberg.

The clips and fun stuff before the panel were really good and as for the big reveal about Linda Hamilton...!! I think it's safe to say that was well received :-). I absolutely love JEFFSTER doing Lady Ga Ga [GG]. When Scott Krinsky and Vik Sahsy stumbled on stage in exactly the same gear that they'd been using in the video, it was a sweet moment.

As always, it is a personal thrill and pleasure to see Adam Baldwin. Don't ask me why, but seeing him causes my heart to smile. Of course, he's one of the Big Damn Heroes, but it's more than that. He walks his talk and has a big heart for the fans. He helped a friend of mine a couple of years ago - went out of his way - to be there for her when she was having a hard time. Can't thank him enough for that.

Straight after the panel was the Jayne hat flash mob. We sang about half of the song and got ourselves filmed! I was right near the front, so keep your eyes on You-tube. I snuck downstairs to the Warner Brothers' signing for the 'Chuck' stars. Turns out, only the first 100 people would get in and the line had long since closed. So, one would have had to make a choice; panel or signing. When everyone but Yvonne turned up, around the booth turned into something of a rugby scrum!

I saw where Adam was going to be standing and positioned myself with hope. Sure enough, Adam spotted me, greeted me and we exchanged a few words until the harassed Security Guard exerted his necessary authority. The huge crowd around the booth was being something of a health and safety hazard, to be fair. I eventually managed to stand back and took the rest of my pictures off the WB video screens. Adam last seen, exiting the panel with a wonderful copy of Casey's cop car held on one upraised hand rather like a waitress carrying a tray of drinks, lol.

After this, I got Jane Espensen's autograph on my Firefly items, then made my way to the room where Ray Bradbury would be speaking. Not only did I see the panel, I got to ask him a question and have it answered. 40 years of being a fan and in awe of his ability with words and here he was, right in front of me. ::wibble::

Later that day, I got autographs from Jose Molina, Brett Matthews and Ben Edlund. After that, KJ and a whole bunch of us went out for supper at a local Italian restaurant.

SUNDAY

An easier day today. I made the Browncoat meeting and we saw all sorts of shiny new things [the Fruity Oaty ladies, the Mule, Mals' pistol, hero River, Mal's browncoat]. Browncoats:Redemption special casting cameos [Yan & Rafael Feldman, Michael Fairmasn, Sunny Rhodes, P J Haarmsa, the Bedlam Bards and ADAM BALDWIN!]. Naturally the characters for which they are better known are copyright to Joss, so we won't have familiar names. Premiere Sept 3rd, 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It's due to be available streaming on line!

Dark Horse news: 8 page Serenity comic in USA today in the Autumn [viewable on line, hopefully]; 25th anniversary next year, expect good things; Shepherd's Tale; ships in 'Float Out' quite unwittingly stolen from Bellflower [apologies]; Dollhouse one-shot with season 2 DVD; Dr Horrible graphic novel; Jamie Chambers has an Origins award for the Serenity RPG.

Finally I went to the Buffy 'Once more with feeling' sing along and the convention was done for another year.

San Diego Comic Con

First off for any Brits reading this... Think BOTH London Expos. Add 'London Film and Comic Con'. Imagine the WHOLE of the building housing London Expo as one enormous Dealers' room. Then ramp that up to 11. That's how big SDCC is, with added ballrooms, meeting rooms and the now infamous Hall H.

THURSDAY 22

Arrived at the new age space port....San Diego Convention Center [sic] at about 9 a.m. Got through registration quite quickly. Gold star, SDCC peeps. My big swag bag had the SDCC logo on one side and the main cast in suits from 'The Big Bang Theory' on the other. Located the California Browncoat booth in one corner of the humongous Dealers Room and handed over my Jayne hats. Mooched about quite a bit, finding out where everything is.  Got into Stan Freberg's panel [with his lovely wife Hunter].  They share an identical sense of humour. They have a new CD out; 'Songs in the key of life'.  They talked about Stan's impressive and extensive back catalogue and showed two of his vintage adverts. These two :-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiC9IBNlrGw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE-NdrzfFOo

I found Mr Freberg's desk later and he kindly autographed his CD for me. I also got my Buffy and Angel books signed  by Camden Toy [one of the creepy 'Gentlemen' in 'Buffy']. In the late afternoon, I went back to my hostel changed and rested before setting out for the CSTS screening of 'Serenity' down town. Sadly none of the BDHs turned up :-(, but we had fun and raised a lot of $$$ for charity.

FRIDAY

Got to the EE desk for a FREE signing with Seth Green. After that, made a flying visit to the rest room and the long, LONG line to see Joss Whedon on stage. Writing process = fun, hunger, porn, depression, fun [GG]. Other people have better and more fulsome reports, I'm sure, but the panel was enlivened by a certain Mr Fillion [in fairly heavy disguise] crashing it at the end [GGG]. I went downstairs for the signing, just to see Joss up close and personal. Helen [Cappy #2!] was there with a couple of others from Browncoats: Redemption. They spotted ME and we went for a juice and a natter after they'd got their autos. Michael Docherty had his 'Joss gives his blessing' letter autographed by Joss [GG].  Joss said he was looking forward to seeing it.

Friday evening was the 'Chuck' Tweetup. I met a whole bunch pf people I'd only 'spoken to' on line :::waves::: At 10 p.m., a number of the cast arrived: Zac, Joshua, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Ryan McPartlin and Sarah Lancaster. The bar went crazy!!! My personal thanks to them for turning out for us.

Second part soon....

Belated update

Apologies for the break in service! Lots of LIFE happening here. However, I plan to be back here soon-ish with a report from the T2 convention and other animals.