Have you ever had something niggling at you? Maybe your conscience prodding/poking/pushing you? Mine won't be happy until I put something down on paper with regard to this cornerstone of Christianity. No matter what denomination we are, The Lord's Prayer is the most basic principle. In my day, we even recited it in school every morning. It is spoken at the altar by the priest during our service every Sunday on behalf of all the members in the congregation. Somewhere in the world, it is probably being said at almost any moment of the day.
I have 2 thoughts I would like to share:
(1) Working with it on a daily basis, making it personal, internalizing it, taking it into the core of your being. When working with it, what if you were to change the word "our" to "my" and "us" to "me"? Try it and see what happens - what then opens up for you? Perhaps this would be a wonderful discussion sometime after a service.
(2) What if just once, this prayer was spoken at the exact same time all around the world? Imagine how powerful this would be! What would be a good day and time? Some day that is commonly celebrated, like Easter or Christmas perhaps? Christmas is celebrated in the western world on Dec. 25th, but in eastern orthodoxy on Jan. 6th, which for us is Epiphany. In the northern hemisphere, we still have limited daylight at that time of year - about 8 hours here in Vancouver. Sunset is around 4:00 p.m., which is midnight Greenwich time, and 8:00 a.m. (approx. sunrise ) in Japan, if I have my time zones right. We could consider 2400 hours Greenwich time on Jan. 5th. Wouldn't it be nice to give it a try? It would be a great way to welcome in 2012.
There now, maybe my conscience will give me a rest.
Sparky
