Our solidarity with Pride

 

It takes love and heart...

National Public Radio ran a story today that got my full attention. The story is about a blended African American family in Aberdeen, Maryland that has had more than their share of hard knocks and has survived and is making do through focused love and a get-and-give-back way of thinking. This is not just a hard-luck story with a message that reinforces someone's hard-work ethic or another story about Black despair. The people at the heart of this story are keyed to the task of maintaining their relationships with one another and with those around them. This necessarily involves a heightened sense of community and justice. And I think that it takes great faith to do what they're doing every day.

For me, it is not that these people are extraordinary, although I'm sure that they are, but that their story is shared by so many people to one degree or another and that they represent us, Black and white working-class people, so well.

This story takes seven minutes to listen to. This might be the best thing that you're going to hear today. The Ferrens family and radio host Rachel Martin and reporter Alana Wise made this story work.

Listen to the story here.

Here is the beginning of NPR's transcript of the story:

High inflation, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, grown children moving back home - issues that remind us how for all the ways that we're different, Americans have a lot in common right now. Today, NPR's Alana Wise reports on how one Black family keeps perspective and thrives during these times.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

TYRONE FERRENS: Shut up, shut up.

ALANA WISE, BYLINE: A fluffy white handful of a dog greets visitors at the Ferrens house.

T FERRENS: This is the only biological child we have together. His name is Ashe Ferrens.

WISE: Tyrone Ferrens and his family are a tightly knit blended group. Between Ferrens and his wife, Michele, the family has six children.

T FERRENS: I have two, and my wife has four. And so we're like the real-life Brady Bunch.

WISE: Since the start of the pandemic, two of the couple's adult children have returned home. The children saw their finances stunted by the pandemic while it energized their parents' professional growth. Michele had been a retired respiratory therapist. When the pandemic hit, she found her expertise in high demand.

MICHELE FERRENS: They were offering large amounts of money for people to come to these hospitals, but it was out of necessity.

WISE: But the money alone wasn't enough to put Michele in harm's way.

M FERRENS: You have to believe in something. You have to have a love for it and a heart for people to do it. It's not money that gets you to go and do things.

Pick up the rest here.

"No loss will define us, no conflict will defeat us. We are the weak who have become strong, we are peaceful but never passive...."

"No sorrow will overwhelm us, no injustice will imprison us. No loss will define us, no conflict will defeat us. We are the weak who have become strong, we are peaceful but never passive. Our strength is in our faith, our vision in our prayers. We are the common believers, the community of equals who are never the same. These days may seem uncertain, but one thing about them is always sure: the victory of the poor and the dispossessed, the return of the honest and the good, the final transformation of hope over every tyranny fear can imagine."
--The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Native American/Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church

A Prayer For Mamas From The Midnight Mom Devotional

Tonight we pray for the momma with one thing so heavy on her heart. Lord, we don’t know, but You know exactly what it is. You know all sides of the situation. You are with this momma as she thinks it all over and wonders and worries. And in the middle of it all, You hold her close and tell her again and again, “I’ve got it. You’re okay. It’s going to be okay. I have it.” Help her feel You and hear You tonight. You’re louder than the fear, closer than she realizes, and fully able to take care of what needs to be done. Help her step out of the worry tonight. We ask in Jesus's name, Amen.

A working-class theology of place, time, and care

This post is taken from a post put up on the Appalachian Americans Facebook page by Libby Helms Patterson. I think that it speaks very well to how working-class people can take care of one another and how we hold on to memory and history. It also speaks well to what some people call "clutter" and how we find and keep meaning in our lives. Behind that are impressive theologies of place, solidarity, care, and memory and recollection.

When my mom was cleaning out her house over 23 years ago to sell it, I wasn't very sympathetic over her attachments to things. I would go over on weekends to help her and we would go through things, things for a yard sale, things to donate, things to throw away. I would usually get upset over how long it was taking her to decide. For instance, we were going through kitchen cabinets and she spent 20 minutes looking at an iron kettle with a lid. Finally I said,
“Mom, at this rate it is going to take us another 2 years.”

She told me that her mother used to make meals in that kettle and leave them at doorsteps of neighbors during the depression, mom would deliver them, and then they would reappear back to her with an apron, or a wood carving, something in return for the meal. I realized that everything that my mom was going through was really a reliving of her life.

If you are reading this and are under the age of 60, you wont get it. You haven't lived long enough. Most of you have not had to move your parents into a nursing home, or emptied their home. You haven't lived long enough to realize that the hours you spend picking out the right cabinets, or the perfect tile will not be what matters in the later years. It will be the handmade toothbrush holder, or a picture that you got on vacation.

So, if your parents are downsizing, and moving to smaller places, or selling a home, give your mom and even your dad a break. Those things that you don't understand why they can’t just pitch, and why you think you know what needs to be tossed or saved, give them a little time to make their decisions. They are saying goodbye to their past, and realizing that they are getting ready for their end of life, while you are beginning your life.

As I have been going through things, its amazing just how hard it is to get rid of objects. But, life goes on, and you realize they are just things, but sometimes things comfort us. So give your parents or grandparents a break. Listen to their stories, because in 40 years, when you are going through those boxes and the memories come back, it will be hard to get rid of those plastic champagne flutes that you and your late husband used at a New Years party 40 years ago. You will think nothing of the tile or the light fixtures that were so important then.

As happy as they are for you, and as much as they love you, you just don't have a clue until it happens to you and then you will remember how you rushed them, and it will make you sad, especially if they are already gone and you cant say I’m sorry, I didn’t get it.

~ Original Post Melissa Vaughan

"More than a Dreamer" by Professor Louie

 

Our solidarity with Pride

 

A prayer for the animals

Oh God, we rejoice in Your creation and in how You have honored Your creatures by giving them life and by giving each a place and a purpose and intrinsic value in Your world. We rejoice also in the natural beauty of Your world and see in this beauty a foretaste of Heaven. We beseech You to not be overly angry with us for having done harm to all that You have given to us. Forgive us, God, for the suffering that we have brought to the world that You have given us as stewards.  Inspire us to love and be one with Your creation, and may we treat all of Your creation with gentleness, reverence, and respect. May we follow the examples of Your saints Francis and Seraphim in befriending the animals. God, renew, restore, bless, and sanctify all that You have made, and may nothing and no one be lost. May Your king come and may Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.   

"Roe v. Wade v. God"---A thoughtful clip from National Public Radio

The "Today Explained" National Public Radio show did a thoughtful piece on how Judaism and Islam view abortion and what some Jews and Muslims are doing in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling. This is a scripturally-based and tradition-based discussion that you can listen to in less than 25 minutes. Do you think that you know what these traditions have to say about abortion and how they arrived at those points? Listen in---you may be surprised.

The link is here.    

Our solidarity with Pride

 

06.26.22 SERMON: Democracy and Patriotism - Rev. Edwin Robinson

This is the kind of sermon that you should have heard at your church last Sunday but probably did not. Just hit the link above and it will work just fine.

 

A prayer for those who are forced to flee their homelands

Oh, Lord, tonight I am praying that in Your mercy You will welcome into eternal rest and peace the souls of those who were found dead in a truck in San Antonio and who were killed in Melilla and comfort their families and their communities. O Lord who left your native land as an infant under the cover of darkness as your family searched for safety, be present with those who are forced to flee their homelands, bless the work of those who comfort and protect them, and arouse in us a love of our neighbors through justice and solidarity. Where there is despair among those who have been forced to migrate appear to them as you appeared to those men on the road to Emmaus and fill all of us with the joys of Your justice and salvation. O, Lord, hear my prayer and show your mercy!

"Blessed are the dreamers, for they show us the future is still possible..."

"Blessed are those who feel the anger, but channel it into the creative energy of change. Blessed are the frustrated, for their determination drives the cause of justice. Blessed are the forgiving, for they keep the bridges between us from collapse. Blessed are the listeners, for they are our last hope. Blessed are the dreamers, for they show us the future is still possible. Blessed are the open-minded, for they show us the diversity of heaven. Blessed are the faithful, for they are our memory. Blessed are those willing to risk love, for without them our vision would reach no farther than our politics."
---The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Native American/Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church

Family 5 Gospel Singers (Bassett VA) - I know Jesus Loves Me

Family 5 Gospel Singers (Bassett VA) - I know Jesus Loves Me

 

I Pressed Through The Crowd - 5 For The Gospel

I Pressed Through The Crowd - 5 For The Gospel

 

A prayer from a man pulling onions and garlic on a hot day

Dear God, I thank You for Your wonderful creation and all that You have given us. I thank You for the strength that I have left in me to do this work and for the memories of learning how to do this and for those who taught me how to work. God grant them Your peace and justice and rest and God grant Your peace and justice to this good earth. Thank you, O God, for the dirt on my hands that reminds me of honest toil and of Your gifts to us and that connects me to Your creation. Remember and bless and protect all those who labor in the fields and in the canneries and hear their prayers and see the goodness in their hearts, their hopes and their dreams. May Your food nourish us, my Your bread satisfy us, may we not take what we have for granted but share all that You have provided, and may we reconcile with You and others. I ask this in Jesus' Holy Name. Amen.   

A prayer from the Midnight Mom Devotional

Tonight we pray for the momma who needs God to step in. Lord, we don’t know her situation, but You do. You know all the details of everything she is facing. You know how she feels and what is racing through her mind. So, Lord, right now we ask for a miracle. We ask You to make a way where there is no way. We ask for peace. We ask for rest. You are a good Father. Show up big, God. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jabez - Drinking from my Saucer (Official Music Video)

 

"Let us show hospitality to Christ present in the stranger...

Taken from the Episcopal Devotions Facebook page:

Friends, here is a reading from a sermon of Gregory the Great [1604]

Two disciples were walking together. They did not believe, yet they were talking about Jesus. Suddenly, he appeared, but under characteristics which they could not recognize. To their bodily eyes the Lord thus manifested externally what was taking place in their innermost depths, in the thoughts of their heart. The disciples were inwardly divided between love and doubt. The Lord was really present at their side, but he did not let himself be recognized. He offered his presence to these disciples who spoke of him, but because they doubted him he hid his true visage from them. He spoke to them and reproached them for their little sense. He interpreted for them every passage of Scripture which referred to him, but since he was still a stranger to the faith of their heart he acted as if he were going farther.

In acting in such a manner, the Truth who is sincere was not being deceitful: he was showing himself to the eyes of his disciples as he appeared in their minds. And the Lord wished to see whether these disciples, who did not yet love him as God, would at least be friendly to him under the guise of a stranger. But those with whom Truth walked could not have been far from charity; they invited him to share their lodging, as one does with a traveler. Can we say simply that they invited him? The Scripture says that "they pressed him." It shows us by this example that when we invite strangers under our roof, our invitation must be a pressing one.

They thus set the table, serve the food, and in the breaking of bread discover the God whom they had failed to come to know in the explanation of the Scriptures. It was not in hearing the precepts of God that they were enlightened, but in carrying them out: "It is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; it is those who keep it who will be declared just." If anyone wishes to understand what you have heard, hasten to put into practice whatever you have grasped. The Lord was not recognized while he was speaking; he was pleased to make himself known while he was offered something to eat. Let us then, beloved, love to practice charity. It is of this that Paul speaks to us: "Love your fellow Christians always. Do not neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Peter also says: "Be mutually hospitable without complaining." And Truth himself speaks to us of it: "I was a stranger and you welcomed me." "As often as you did it for one of my least brothers [or sisters]," the Lord will declare on the day of judgment, "you did it for me."

Despite this, we are so slothful in the face of the grace of hospitality! Let us appreciate the greatness of this virtue. Let us receive Christ at our table so as to be welcomed at his eternal supper. Let us show hospitality to Christ present in the stranger now so that at the judgment he will not ignore us as strangers but will welcome us as brothers and sisters into his Kingdom.

A prayer for those who want justice and who are weary.

Tonight I'm praying for those who want justice and who are weary. Lord, there are long days when they grow tired, hot days when its hard to march, times when its easier to hate than to love, times when it seems easier to throw a rock then to use a stone to build, moments when its hard to hold a picket line together, long moments where they face the anger and hatred of others. But from faith comes patience and from patience comes enduring strength, and our faith, patience, and strength is in You, Lord, whether we know it or not. We find ourselves in the words of the apostle who reminded us that we are a part of the history of Your salvation and that those who struggled before us are with us and that we will all be made perfect in You through faith and solidarity. Oh, God, may those who want justice feel rested and strengthened in You, inspired by You and by Your holy ones, and be given the courage they need to go on. May Your kingdom come and may Your will be done on earth as it is heaven. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Our solidarity with Pride

 

Bishop Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II preaching, "Just When You Need Him Most..."

This is Bishop Barber's first sermon since the historic Poor People's Campaign reached Washington last week. Both the message today and the mass presence in D.C. last week are significant events in our history. Just click on this link and it will take you there.  

Mistakes Christians make about the Jewish Jesus • Amy-Jill Levine

I heard a reverend talk about Amy-Jill Levine this morning. She's new to me. This is about a four minute introduction to her thinking and to what Christians get wrong about Jesus. I'm impressed and I'm going to read some of her work.

06 24 22 Post Roe Service of Lament and Empowerment 1 2

 

Our solidarity with Pride

 

A prayer for moms from the Midnight Mom Devotional

Tonight we pray for the momma who is exhausted to her core. Lord, there are long days and then there are days like these where she just wants rest. She has done well today, Lord. She might not feel like it, but she has. She did her best. She is a good momma. And she deserves to be told. Lord, thank You for strengthening this momma. Multiply her rest tonight and fill her with peace. We ask in Jesus’s name, Amen.

Do you remember older generations drinking from their saucer?

I borrowed this from the Appalachian Americans Facebook page.

My grandmother always drank her coffee like this! I thought it was because it was too hot.
Do you remember older generations drinking from their saucer? Then today I came across this poem that made me feel there was symbolism to the coffee ritual.

Drinking from My Saucer
by John Paul Moore

I’ve never made a fortune and it’s probably too late now.
But I don’t worry about that much, I’m happy anyhow.
And as I go along life’s way, I’m reaping better than I sowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer, ‘Cause my cup has overflowed.
I don’t have a lot of riches, and sometimes the going’s tough.
But I’ve got loved ones around me, and that makes me rich enough.
I thank God for his blessings, and the mercies He’s bestowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer, ’Cause my cup has overflowed.
I remember times when things went wrong, my faith wore somewhat thin.
But all at once the dark clouds broke, and the sun peeped through again.
So God, help me not to gripe about the tough rows that I’ve hoed.
I’m drinking from my saucer, ‘Cause my cup has overflowed.
If God gives me strength and courage, when the way grows steep and rough.
I’ll not ask for other blessings, I’m already blessed enough.
And may I never be too busy, to help others bear their loads.
Then I’ll keep drinking from my saucer, ‘Cause my cup has overflowed.

An Alhamdulillah mindset

"Alhamdulillah" means "praise be to God" in Arabic 

May God bless you with discomfort...

 

"If we see the world through love, we see it more clearly..."

Time to change the filter. As the chief cook and bottle washer around my place, remembering to change the AC/heating filters is one of my regular job descriptions. I am used to doing it on a schedule and I take it seriously because the system really does work better when it is maintained. Same thing for the filters we see the world through, the spiritual filters that keep our vision sharp and well defined. I am talking about love. If we see the world through love, we see it more clearly. So if it has been a while since you refreshed how you see life around, you might want to join me in updating the love in your eyes.

~ Steven Charleston is a Native American elder, author, and retired Episcopal bishop of Alaska. Professor of Native American Ministries at Saint Paul School of Theology OCU and Citizen of the Choctaw Nation. https://stevencharleston.com/

We've been in a storm too long

Mightly Clouds of Joy- I've been in the storm too long

It feels to me today that I have been in a storm all of my life. Never a period of peace, always a struggle for justice. Never a moment where we could rest in confidence that all will be well.

When I read Leon Liwtack's great book "Been in the Storm So Long" years back I picked up some humility because I could measure my own experience, tough as it is, against that of  African Americans, who have a much tougher time of most everything. But I instantly identified with the title of the book and much that I read there. And I think that there are a few connections between that book and today. One is that had the Confederacy been fully defeated and the Confederacy's leadership and the south's planter aristocracy been treated as the traitors that they were, and had Reconstruction succeeded and been extended, we would not be debating states' rights, gun control, reproductive justice, structurally-based racism, and labor rights today. Those questions either would have been settled long ago or we would be approaching them in a different context. The Jackson Women's Health Organization would be doing its good work without interference.

I don't think that I am mistaken in believing that the loudest voices celebrating the Supreme Court rulings on abortions and guns this week are celebrating the rise of a New Confederacy.

Every storm ends and there are rainbows. I heard it said two weeks ago that, yes, the world is broken, but what is broken can be mended---not by time, but by intentionality. The world needs our light in this storm.
 

  

Something to smile on #8

A once-a-week collection of things that we hope will make you smile.

Two good people talking about their home and lives. This makes me want to visit or move in down the road. This is from Celebrating Appalachia. Just visit with them for a few minutes and feel some calm. 

Sam Cooke - A change is gonna come

Mama Don't Allow - Live Backstage - Pokey LaFarge's Central Time Tour

La Bamba | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

Manu Chao - Me Gustas Tu

Amadou & Mariam - La Paix

Bonnie Raitt - Something To Talk About

texas tornados - guacamole

A Summer Solstice Blessing

It's the midsummer's evening, the shortest of night,

Where our planet is blessed with the greatest of light.

The sun at its power, sharing its wealth,

With the earth glowing in abundance and health.

The trees' leaves are green, the birds are in song.

The days are as warm as they are long.

We honor the animals, the plants and living things,

The sun and the water and for the life that it brings.

May you find well-being and may you find peace,

In days after solstice, as the light does decrease.

May the blessings of solstice be yours, I pray,

And the light warm your heart and soul every day.  

 

Faith is where we find it in unexpected places #3---Afro-Punk

One of my favorite radio shows is The Takeaway with Melissa Harris-Perry on National Public Radio. She can get me to rethink some of my ideas and get me to see things a little differently. She also often surprises me, and I like her interview style and the love that she often shows to her guests.

Yesterday she really surprised me. She had James Spooner on. He directed the documentary Afro-Punk in 2003 and co-launched the Afropunk music festival in 2005, and he has a graphic novel or memoir out that I'm looking forward to reading. He came up in a small California town where white supremacy flourished.

I'm probably the least likely person to get interested in Afro-Punk, but Melissa Harris-Perry and James Spooner pulled me in. He has a compelling story that stands by itself, but then Melissa Harris-Perry talks a little about what music means to young people and how that gets interpreted. This raises a question in my mind---when we judge music, are we also judging people? And I think that I get much of what James Spooner is talking about when he talks about small towns and the invisibilities of rural people. But then what nails it for me is the part of the interview when he talks about white youth in the punk or skinhead scenes torn between the white supremacists and their Black friends and aspects of Black culture and where this puts punk. I think that Melissa Harris-Perry's questioning at that point shows real love and a genuine concern that had not occurred to me.

Please listen. I hope that you hear the faith here that I do. Please listen in to The Takeaway if you can.

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444253/pri-the-takeaway

 

Some Reminders From Scripture

 

"We are on a rescue mission...

"We are on a rescue mission. That’s one way to think of our task as people of faith. We are out on stormy waters looking for other men and women who may be struggling. It does not matter their age, race or religion: it only matters that they are in need of help. That is why in this community we never try to convert anyone but extend a hand of welcome to everyone. The world has gotten too fractured for us to be concerned with our differences. We need to unite around what we hold in common: a longing for peace, a need for justice, a love that rescues us all."
--The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston. Native American/Indigenous Ministries of the Episcopal Church

Building With The Poor People's Campaign & Faith: Rev. Dr. Rodney Williams with a Special Sermon

This will work despite what it says. Just click on it.
 

The Lord's Prayer/Our Father & An Alternative Creed

A few days ago I did a post on The Lord's Prayer/the Our Father. Here is one translation and one modified Creed that has come in since then.

This  was posted on the Progressive Methodists Facebook page:

The Lord's Prayer, translated from Aramaic directly into English. (Re-posted)
(Rather than from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English.)

O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration,
soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where your Presence can abide.
Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.
Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.
Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.
Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.
Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.
For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth, power, and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.
And So It Is!

I'm not sure where this came from:

I may not be ready for this to take the place of what we read and say now, but it has enough importance to it that I think that it should be read and said often. 

Good talk from Appalachia

And from Celebrating Appalachia:

"Come and discover what prophets have seen, high on their hills of wonder. Come and watch the eagles fly against the setting sun."

There are times when you don’t have to say a word: I know what you are thinking. It is in your eyes. They have seen too much for too long. They have read the headlines, watched the evening news, seen the suffering and the rage. You need a release, a chance to behold a different vision. Come and discover what prophets have seen, high on their hills of wonder. Come and watch the eagles fly against the setting sun. Come and see what love looks like when it sleeps in the peace of perfect safety. Don’t say a word. Just come and see.
~ Steven Charleston is a Native American elder, author, and retired Episcopal bishop of Alaska. Professor of Native American Ministries at Saint Paul School of Theology OCU and Citizen of the Choctaw Nation. https://stevencharleston.com/

Some Real Talk About Social Justice

 

Happy Juneteenth Weekend!

 

All Are Precious In God's Sight

 

"We are like dawn, you and I, like light breaking into the world....

"We are like dawn, you and I, like light breaking into the world. Alone we are only a flicker, a promise not a reality, but when joined with others, when combined with the bright hope of millions, we roll back the night like a carpet, flooding the sleeping world with a new day, a new beginning. Faith is what makes us shine, love is what lifts us into the sky, trust is what brings us together with those like us, other souls like ours, other stories like ours, swept by a rising wind to enlighten creation with the joy of the Spirit who made us all. We are like dawn."
The Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston

 

Be LOUD With Your Love

 

"Our Children are a Gift From God" | Callie Greer #rolandmartinunfiltered

 

Something to smile on #7

 

The United House of Prayer band playing "It will Never loose its POWER"

Perfect Duet--Ed Sheeran & Beyonce ('50s Prom Cover) ft. Mario Jose, India Carney & Dave Koz--Postmodern Jukebox

Our On-Going Solidarity With Pride

 

Two Important Clips From The Poor People's Campaign

 

Is peace possible?

I'm not as inclined to pacifism and individualism as Rev. Barbara Prose is, but I think that she makes some excellent points here. I have been thinking much this week of hearing a priest say on Sunday that "The world is broken, but all that is broken may be mend---not by time, as the saying goes, but by intention. The broken world is waiting for your light in order to heal" or words to that effect.

Is peace possible? Rev. Prose says yes if, or when, it starts with us and after we have learned certain disciplines and come to desire peace. I think that our light gets brighter as our intentionality becomes organizing and as our organizing builds a movement for social change and demands that people come before profits.     

Praying The Lord's Prayer

 A few months ago I participated in a group study of The Lord's Prayer, or "The Our Father..."  The prayer is commonly given as follows: 

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.

We looked at the prayer line by line through group discussion and considered the meaning of the prayer with help from video talks given by the Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton and by reading his book The Lord's Prayer. Pastor Hamilton made a case for keeping the traditional "Thy" when using this prayer, for emphasizing God's will (and not our will), for taking "daily bread" to mean both physical food for those who hunger and spiritual food for those seeking that, and for adding a comma so that the lines read "Lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." He spent some time taking up the idea that "Our Father" might be inadequate, or even traumatizing, to people who have had bad relations with their earthly fathers and suggested that "Our Parent" might be a good substitute. These are my memories only, and I may be off course here. You can go to the link above and hear it directly from him.

The version of the prayer that is most familiar to me is as follows:

Our Father who are 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 (or debts)
as we forgive those who trespass against us (or our debtors);
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from the evil one,
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power,
and the Glory, 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

now and for ever.
Amen.

This reflects my mixed Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox roots.

The other day I found the following version on the Progressive Methodists Facebook page:

I do like this, but some people have complained that in using this we are distorting Christ's words and intent. This is, after all, a prayer that Crist taught us.

I'm not convinced that this distorts Christ's teachings more than any translation of anything that He said or taught. I'm also not sure how much it matters how much we get exactly correct when we pray. We and what we pray with and for are works in progress, I hope. We're not praying to tell God what to do or to acquaint God with what we need or what we're hoping for. Prayer should soften the heart and lead to honest conversation that illumines us.

This suggested version begins to do that for me. I only hesitate when I get to "Fill us with courage..." I'm not hesitating here because I don't need courage, but because I don't want to lose the idea that "temptation" refers to a specific time of trial, an event or events that will occur or do occur in real time and history. I find "the evil one" useful because I need to remember that evil can have a very real presence and is embodied in social structures and systems that benefit a few people at the expense of the many and that it can be personified and personalized as well.  

One of the great daily miracles around us

 Photo from Sarah Rohrs

Let Me Brag on My God, Psalm 17:1-2 (Evangelist Sylvia Laird) 6.12.2022

 

"Just another day that the Lord has kept me"

Just another day that the Lord has kept me---Elder Maurice Brown

 

June 18: A moment to help decide our futures

 The Poor People's Campaign

"Bleeding-hearts"

I would not describe myself as a liberal, but I do think that everyone who believes in human rights and dignity, the integrity of the environment, and putting people before profits---and who oppose the reactionary trends that are trying to push us backwards---have much in common and should find the means to cooperate where we do agree.