The Lords Prayer

[S-noWonder]

Our Father which art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done
On Earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
Forever, Amen.

On this day considered a traditional holy day for most who follow the Christian faith I woke up wondering how it all got so complicated.* How did we forget the simple act of listening to our hearts?Then the Lord’s Prayer popped into my mind and it all started to come together for me.*

You see I have many friends that do not feel kindly towards the Christian faith.* They have been betrayed by those they trusted, all in the name of God.* But you see, it’s not Christ that betrayed them, it was people, broken folks that think they have it figured out.* The SELF righteous that flaunt their connection with our Great Creator.*

I have met these people.* I have many stories on why I didn’t walk this path.* I see the hypocrisy and wonder if they really think they are fooling anyone.* But some are so bold about it folks don’t question them and that is where the trouble starts.* You stop thinking and more important feeling for yourself.*

I don’t go to church; for some reason I just can’t.* I know there are groups of people doing many good things for others, all in the tradition of Christ, but every church I ventured into was filled with ugliness.* People sizing up each other to see who was dressed the best, or the most appropriate for worship or whatever, but the judgment lies thick in the air. *How can you open yourself up to The Word if you are worrying about what others are doing?So I avoid it. Kind of lame I guess, but it works for me.*

I have broken down the Lord’s Prayer in the way I see it.* Its only my opinion.

Our Father which art in heaven
Some call Him the Creator, The Source of All, and that is what God is, a spiritual greatness, a power that knows no boundaries.* What an amazing ideal.* Many say it can’t be, there is no one guiding our course, or that we are gods. *We do have free will, and we do hold The Lord in our hearts, but I still like to think someone is driving the bus.*

Hallowed be Thy name.So should such a being be revered, personally I do think so.* To call on that energy, that love, the source of all for help, should that being be thought of with respect and love?

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be doneOn Earth as it is in heaven
Here is where it appears we are faltering.* Heaven is a place of love, the ultimate reward, the closeness with God.* Or is it?* What if heaven is right here, the closeness right at hand?* You have but to seek, act and give.* What if there is no big secret to being with God but to ask?* Allow faith to guide your hand, mind and spirit.* “They” tell us that all the time.* But for some reason we don’t believe anything can be that easy.* *All we need to do is realize we are all in this together, that we are a collection of spiritual souls here to help one another to grow and thrive.

Give us this day, our daily bread
He gave us this lovely planet to tend to our needs.* The whole big blue marble is our Garden of Eden.* We torture Her and abuse Her yet she keeps on giving.* Now and then She warns us to back off, to pay attention, to clean up our mess.* But for the most part she is a nurturing mother to tend to our health and physical well being

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
This is huge, to forgive ourselves and others.* We forget, and carry our burdens to long and too far.* Christ died for our sins, our mistakes!* Yet we do not honor that the debt has been paid.* We are constantly pushing that gift back saying we don’t deserve it.* How rude is that!* It’s not that unwanted gift you can’t wait to return, it’s the ultimate in forgiveness.* If you allow this amazing gift, just think of how much lighter you can feel, the extra energy you will have, the more to do good things with.* And to forgive others, to allow fellow humans to make their own mistakes, how glorious is that.* That burden is lifted from you too. **If you let all that go, learn from what has happened there is NOTHING you can’t do.** You are free to be all you can be.* No excuses, no road blocks, just the way ahead.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
I smile when I hear people say there is no evil.* How amazing there life must be to believe something like that.* It is a spiritual concept to be sure, but we see it every day.* Those that harm others, that enjoy seeing suffering.* Evil is real, and it starts small.* That one off color thought, gives way to perhaps jealousy over a friends happiness or prosperity.* And as these things continue, if that was okay, then maybe stealing a small thing is too, and then maybe hurting in an effort to make yourself feel better.* And on and on it goes until you realize you are off your path.* Then the false thinking that you don’t deserved to be forgiven, you are not worthy.* Evil is sneaky, it doesn’t come in big jumps, but it slowly takes over your heart.* But know, that no matter what you have done, there is hope and salvation available, all you have to do is ask.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,
I read this and see thine is not capitalized, thine is you and me.* We are all that. *We have the ability to be anything, to do anything.* How cool is that!

Forever, Amen.

[TiredRetired]