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The Lord's Prayer - An Alternative Version

31/12/2020

Our Father,

Perfect Love,

We turn again to You.

Guide us;
help us to love,

so that Your Will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us this day
that which we need.
Fill us with hope and trust.

Help us to forgive
our brothers and sisters
(and ourselves as well);

and to look on them
as you look on us.

Give us strength to resist temptation.
When we are tempted, let us choose peace.

Deliver us from our fears.

For what You love is safe.

And Your love remains
forever and always.

Amen.

Featured in the book The Kindness of Presence.

Why, you might ask, would we want an alternative version of the Lord's Prayer?

Well, there are a couple of reasons why I felt moved to write this interpretation.

First, no matter how inspired or inspiring words may be, there's a risk that with over-familiarity they may lose their power to stir and transform us. (Think of how moved you feel when you hear an amazing piece of music for the first time. You listen to it over and over again. As the days, weeks and months go by, the intensity of your response to the music may fade. You still like it, but it no longer inspires or affects you to the extent it did when you first heard it.) Adjusting the words may help us to engage with the prayer more deeply again. (To pick up the music analogy again, maybe you discover a fresh new cover of an old favourite song.)

Second, for me, a prayer should be heart-felt. It should be authentic. How can I pray authentically using a set prayer if some of its words confuse me, or if I disagree with them?

In the Lord's Prayer, there are a couple of things I struggle with:

We ask God to forgive our debts (or trespasses or sins). We've made mistakes, certainly. We've turned our back on God; cut ourselves off from awareness of His Presence. We have forgotten What we are (a Child of God), and we know not what we do. But when a child acting in ignorance or forgetfulness makes a mistake, do we as parents require them to ask for forgiveness? As Lesson 46 of A Course in Miracles puts it, "God does not forgive, because He has never condemned". Forgiveness is vital (I made it the theme of my novel, Escape to Redemption) - but, it feels to me, it isn't God who needs to forgive. More, it's we who need to forgive one another - including ourselves.
We pray to God, "Lead us not into temptation". I may be misinterpreting this line, or perhaps its original meaning may have been lost in translation or prior to transcription - but, for me, it's clear that God (Who is Love) would not lead us into temptation. We'll certainly face temptation - temptation to judge others, temptation to diverge from our primary goal of seeking and living the Kingdom of Heaven. But surely the source of that temptation isn't God?

Photo by Julia Volk from Pexels

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Top of the (spiritual) pops

29/12/2020

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At this time of year, it's traditional for radio stations to count-down the top 10 Christmas carols, or the top 100 hits of all time. In that spirit (and in no particular order) I'd like to share this play-list of hymns, chants, and uplifting contemporary songs with a focus on oneness or universal love.

Ubi Caritas A Taizé chant which translates as, "Where charity and love are, there God is".

This Little Light of Mine - Odetta Jesus is recorded to have said, "I am the Light of the world". We all have the Light in us, but are we going to hide it under a bushel or, as this gospel song puts it, will we let it shine?
Stand By Me I remember Ben E King's version of this song from my childhood days. The link is to the Songs Around the World cover produced by Playing for Change, an organization which promotes peace through music.
The Christ In You - Waterboys The Waterboys are probably best known for their hit single The Whole of the Moon, but they also performed this song about seeing the Christ in one another, or 'looking with the eyes of Love'.
Lord of the Dance I recently rediscovered this hymn, which I remember singing in primary school. I struggle to sing the lyrics of many Christian worship songs, but the words of Lord of the Dance resonate with me: "'I am the life that'll never never die; And I'll live in you if you'll live in me. I am the Lord of the dance,' said he."

Providence - Lisa Mitchell I'm not sure of the story behind this beautiful song by the talented Lisa Mitchell, but for me it's about living in the moment and, as Quakers might put it, 'waiting on God'. It gives me goose bumps whenever I listen to it.
Love Shine A Light - Katrina and the Waves A winning Eurovision song contest entry from Great Britain. "Love shine a light, in every corner of my dreams. Let the love light carry. Let the love light carry. Like the mighty river, flowing from the stream. Let our love shine a light, in every corner of my dreams." Amen to that!

The River is Flowing While on the subject of rivers!... I've sung this as a round at Young Quaker gatherings a couple of times.

Lord of All Hopefulness Another hymn from my primary school days which I'd love to sing with other people again.
Caravan of Love "We'll be living in a world of peace. And the day when everyone is free. We'll bring the young and the old. Won't you let your love flow, from your heart..." Why don't they sing this in churches? (Or maybe they do?)

Hymn - Vangelis No words in this one, just beautiful instrumental music which recalls my mind to peace. (Could be played at weddings or funerals alike.)
Where Is The Love? - Black Eyed Peas and U2 I hesitated before including this one, but it's a relevant message and a great tune, so why not?

Bonus track. Here's a piece of piano music (including rain sounds and binaural beats) which I find works well in place of a mantra at the start of a period of meditation. For the last few weeks I've been listening to it for 10-15 minutes a day, and - whatever the science - it certainly seems to put a smile on my face.

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Things to Remember

The Lord's Prayer - An Alternative Version

Top of the (spiritual) pops

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