Sunday, June 23, 2013

"...Thy Kingdom Come..."

If you were raised Christian, you probably know "the Lord's Prayer" by heart: "Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come...."   If you were raised Jewish, you might know the Kaddish prayer by heart, even if you don't know its translation, but when you get to "veyamlikh malkhuteh," (וְיַמְלִיךְ מַלְכוּתֵהּ), your saying, "May He establish His kingdom." (Of course, you already had prayed, "May His great name be exalted and sanctified is G-d's great name," "Yitgaddal veyit qaddash shmeh rabba," "יִתְגַּדַּל וְיִתְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמֵהּ רַבָּא").

So both Jews and Christians traditionally pray that God's kingdom be established.  This is a tacit acknowledgment that God's kingdom is not established...yet.   As the Lord's Prayer continues, "...thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven...."   God's will is not done on Earth.  Or if it is, it is not done the way it is done in Heaven.

So when we see things that are obviously wrong or evil, we should remember that God sees them as obviously wrong or evil, also.  They didn't happen because His will was done.  Or if it was His will, it wasn't done as His will is done in Heaven, where there is no evil, no pain, no suffering, no death.  And thus it will be when His kingdom does come to Earth:  only goodness, joy, and celebration.

2 comments:

Jon Garvey said...

Hi Bilbo

I've just posted on this here: http://potiphar.jongarvey.co.uk/2013/06/24/bilbo-peter-and-paternoster/

Bilbo said...

Hi Jon,

I tried leaving a comment at your post, but it didn't show up.