"...Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
How often did I pray
that prayer as a boy growing up? How often did I mouth those words in church
or in parochial school or at home? But did I understand what I was praying, what God's son was saying?
In heaven God's will is
accomplished perfectly. In heaven there is no sorrow, tears or pain. In heaven God's presence is manifest and it’s recognized. In heaven there are no missed
opportunities. In heaven tears of mourning get turned into tears of joy. In
heaven love is expressed in its purest form.
In heaven there are no
regrets, no disappointments, no might-have-beens or if-onlys. In heaven God's word is accomplished to its ultimate intent.
That’s what heaven is
like.
So, try to imagine what it’s
like to be part of that. Try to imagine what it’s like to be in a place
where nothing but God's will gets accomplished. Not only because God wants it so, but
because the place itself promotes it, due to God's presence, and everyone there being in agreement.
There is no dissention in
heaven because everyone and everything has been reconciled.
There is a
push in our country for diversity and inclusion. But yet there is much division
and prejudice and hatred borne of insecurity and fear. In heaven there is
amazing diversity, in fact, representatives of every nation and tribe on the
face of the earth will be there. And it will be glorious. The song of
praise emanating from heaven will be so rich and harmonious that it will far
surpass anything our imagination could come up with.
All of these things will
constitute heaven. All of these things will constitute heaven because of God's presence being there in its fullness. Now, after imagining these things, can
you begin to understand what God's Son was talking about when he said, in response to his followers asking him to teach them how to pray to God: "Pray like this...your (God's) kingdom come, your (God's) will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Remember C.S. Lewis’
description of grass in The Great Divorce? How it was so beautifully deep that
the narrator of the story had experienced nothing like it and almost wept seeing and experiecing its fullness. Now try to consider how everything - every object, every being -will be in its perfect state in heaven.
Are you beginning to get the picture?
Are you beginning to get excited? Are you beginning to understand
the significance of God's will being done on earth like God's will is being done in
heaven? Some people say that thinking about heaven in this way is a waste of time; that its all pie-in-the-sky. But why would God's son encourage us to pray for it's coming on earth if it wasn't possible?
We don't have to wait for the ultimate fulfillment of this prayer until our life on this earth is complete. It's happening now and we can be part of it.
We don't have to wait for the ultimate fulfillment of this prayer until our life on this earth is complete. It's happening now and we can be part of it.
This is a prayer without limits. This is a prayer that erases doubt and
confusion. This is a prayer that opens up a highway from God's heart to our soul.
And to the soul of anyone else who cares to say yes to this
magnificent invitation!
Photo credit. www.boxoffice.com
Photo credit. www.boxoffice.com
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