Poet or Heretic: You Decide

This Friday, there will be an event at Hope Community Church called 'Soulwell'. This once a month event aims to be a different worship experience than a typical Sunday morning. A lot of music and reflection time, no preaching, flexible schedule, soft ambiance, etc. The original vision of this ministry is that those who have a difficult time connecting to the format of a typical Sunday morning would (perhaps) feel more at home in this kind of setting.

This semester (yes, we still operate on a college student calendar due to our primary demographic) we are exploring 'Reclaiming Whole-Life Faith: tasting freedom from compartmentalized Christianity'. Hopefully the event lives up to the ambitiousness of its title.

Oh, and the irony of trying to eliminate compartmentalization AT AN EVENT is not lost on me.

Anyway, this Friday we will be exploring the idea of prayer. Without delving into it too much, we want to be honest about how difficult this spiritual discipline is for many people and perhaps chart a course forward.

We will be using the Lord's prayer as part of our liturgy for the event. But in exploring its meaning, we found that much of the intended story-world of Jesus' instructions about communication with the Father were lost in a sea of over-familiarity. So...I did a new translation. I'd be interested to get some feedback on it.

Our Father--the One who will ultimately bring justice and renew all of creation--
Set apart Your unique and holy name from amongst the myriad of worthless idols
Bring Your kingdom crashing into our earthly reality
Actualize Your dreams for Your creation in our midst just as they happen in Your heaven
Feed us from the bread of life that you graciously give to sustain both body and soul
Extend Your perfect grace to us, that we may know how to respond gracefully toward others
Be mindful of how much temptation we can bear and do not press us beyond it
For You are the world's true King, the only One who can wield power justly,
Deserving the recognition, adoration and worship of those who bear Your image
Until the end of time and thereafter.
Amen