As I journey on my current path into the heart of God, I am learning and seeing afresh. Many of the books I’ve read and the people with whom I have shared conversations, worship, and silence, have lit the way and it is wondrous, like new wine in a new wineskin. For some of my previous “brothers and sisters,” undoubtedly, they may believe I have actually lost my way. As soon as I use unfamiliar terms like the Divine Feminine, or toss out the discovery that the early church (pre-written Bible) actually referred to the Holy Spirit as “she” and not “he,” or, if I suggest we consider the term, “Universal Christ” and where will that lead the conversation?
When my grandson doesn’t want me to tell him something or believes I may be about to chastise him or correct him for some ill-considered misdemeanor, he covers his ears with his hands. This is what I imagine some of my dear readers may be doing right now. Or, the other gesture I’ve even done myself, I hold my hands over my ears and start repeating, “blah, blah, blah” very loudly to drown out the secret or revelation I don’t want to hear.
So, yes, my journey of the last five years has introduced me to the concepts of God as neither father nor mother, or perhaps more accurately, father AND mother. Of course, both of these are titles humans have created to understand and have a friendlier relationship to an almighty Creator of heaven and earth who, nonetheless, loves all living things.
Here’s my confession for my progressive friends today. I don’t mind referring to God as Father. When I first encountered God over forty years ago and I lay down for the first time at the feet of Christ, in surrender, I “heard” God say that He would be my father, faithfully, and be a comfort to the child within me who lost her human father at age nine. And all this time, Father God has indeed been true. My youth was plagued, instead, by mother issues and challenges and abuse. Is it any wonder that I don’t easily gravitate to the Divine Feminine? Don’t misunderstand me, I’m all on board, really, but for my inner home, it is still the Father who speaks.
But I have another confession. You see, the real conundrum is in the word, “our.” That’s right. Not unlike the Jewish lawyer in Luke 10 who asks “who is my neighbor?” I am secretly asking who is included in the “our” of the Lord’s Prayer? Our: my family? Our: my neighborhood? Our: my town, my state, my country, my continent? Damn, the whole world? You gotta be kidding me. I’m praying for everybody? It feels weighty like the discovery Jim Carrey makes in Bruce Almighty. This is heady stuff. And what about all those “our” people who could care less? What about that atheist guy who smugly says he isn’t afraid to burn in hell?
I think I’d be happier if, let’s say, I changed it to “our Creator.” Right? But then I’d be throwing out the part I like the best to make the “our” work better. Lazy solution.
The easiest time to say “our” is in church. Everybody is doing it, so we’re kind of a gang who believes in the same leader. We’re devoted. In those moments, I don’t think anyone is worried about the “non-ours.” I figure the church folks are probably including ALL church folks into the first word of this prayer. That’s comfortable, until we start discussing details on the front lawn, like who is saved and who isn’t, or, is the cup filled with juice or wine, or, did that guy actually put his lips on that thing? Stuff like that. The “our” seems to fly out the window then.
Since I include liturgy in my private practice, the Lord’s Prayer appears, at minimum, twice a day in the morning and at night. If I’m feeling flush with devotion, I might throw in a Vespers office. That would make three “ours” a day. And what about the Psalms? I’m always grateful for the personal pronouns there.
God brought this knot to my mind and won’t let go. Here’s plan A to begin to untangle it. Perhaps I will need to write about a Plan B, but I’ll have to see how things go. Watch this space.
Since next week is Holy Week, I will fast again, Monday through Saturday. If for no other reason, to ponder you: that is, you, the nameless unknown person to me and embrace “you” in “our” prayer together. I will look into the eyes of the most hapless and the famous, the politician (even that one I won’t name) and the excavator man who dug out my neighbor’s sewer pipe. I will watch people walking their dogs or sitting alone in front of the St. Johns Towers. I will give attribute to images on television and voices on the radio. I will find a connection that confirms and affirms, that we are in this together, this life on earth, with the breath of God sealing us in love.
Our Father, who is in heaven. . .
For Christ didn’t enter the earthly version of the Holy Place; he entered the Place Itself, and offered himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. He doesn’t do this every year as the high priests did under the old plan with blood that was not their own; if that had been the case, he would have to sacrifice himself repeatedly throughout the course of history. But instead he sacrificed himself once and for all, summing up all the other sacrifices in this sacrifice of himself, the final solution of sin. [Hebrews 9:24-26, The Message]
Meditations from Zion 