I am amazed at how new things jump off the pages of scripture through the years. How can you find new meaning, new applications from a text that is thousands of years old and that you have read over and over? Yet, it stays new. The author of Hebrews was right, "The Word of God is living and active."
Lately I've spent hours with the Lord's Prayer - not studying it, just praying it. This has been my norm for the past few years. In the morning, I take my cup of coffee and stroll the neighborhood to talk with God. When I get distracted by the ducks flying over or a pretty tree - it really doesn't take much - I take my thoughts captive by falling back on the Lord's Prayer. The next few blogs will be what I've discovered from this ancient prayer.
When I begin to say the prayer, I usually get stuck on the first word - "our". I want to start with "my". Yet there is a reason for the communal nature of this prayer. It makes me aware of my neighbors. It makes me think about my family. It reminds me of my students. And it flies in the face of everything North American.
Despite what the advertisements say, life is not about me; its about him and its about us. I'm terrible about that. "Me" somehow crawls up on the throne when I'm asleep. Everyday I wake up to this prayer and find that the first word calls me to repentance. I've tried to skip it or ignore it. Then a passing car honks at me, a jogger shouts "good morning" or a neighbor getting the paper waves. And I know deep in my heart that life is about "our" rather than "my". I also know that tomorrow morning, I will start the day repenting.
2 comments:
That's an insightful thought about the implications of one simple word--our.
Oh, Gary.....I love it. That inspires me to stroll through my neighborhood praying, with a cup of coffee. And to start at the beginning, not being in a hurry to get even to the next word. Made my morning----thanks for sharing!
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