Sigh of Relief 12-22-23
Things are looking up. It’s the Winter Solstice and the darkest day of the year here in the Northern hemisphere. I have been reading Neil Douglas-Klotz’s book Revelations of the Aramaic Jesus in which the author writes about the idea “I can.” This idea was mistranslated into Greek as “kingdom.” That is, in the Lord’s Prayer, for example, the phrase “Thy kingdom come” should read “May your ‘I can’ come through me.’”
It’s hard to know why it was mistranslated, although there are probably answers out there, but it doesn’t really matter to me.
I don’t know a lot about this “I can” idea yet, but looking back at my life, as a child I had a problem in the “I can” department. And that has continued to affect me today, over a half century later. I remember a lot of “I can’ts”: being kept safe by my parents but this contributed to my feelings of lack of agency, as it is described today. I was always looking to others to see if I could do something or be something. Was it okay for me to do this? Do I get to do this thing I want to do or be? I might try anyway, but the results did not always happen as I had hoped.
This morning, someone has said “No” to me in an email. I had asked them to share the Back to Our Nature preview with a friend of theirs. He is in Hawaii for the Holidays and the answer is “no,” at least “not at this time.” What they said was just a statement. It’s not a judgment of worth or a truth. It is not anything but a statement of what they can do at this time.
From something like that, I would usually feel a bit sad, drained, and down, here on the darkest day of the year.
But that is an example of a faulty way of living and thinking. The “Thy Kingdom come” message in the Lord’s Prayer, “Father, may your ‘I can’ ability come through me” is a prayer for belief in myself! And belief in the world around me as a place that works!
In the Back to Our Nature story, the character Hugo from the year 2054 maintains that part of the problem that lead to climate change was, not just those who were actively participating in affecting the climate by their choices, but the other half of the issue were those people who knew what to do differently in their lives, who could contribute by living as their authentic selves in the world, using their talents and skills, working with nature, and so on, to create a different outcome.
I, personally, have done something in the world: spoken up through the Back to Our Nature pilot (see GetBackToOurNature.org) BUT I have neglected to believe that God’s/Nature’s/The Universe’s “I can do it” ability can come through me. Part of me has thought others were the kings and queens, and I was waiting on their mercy. That mercy is not going to come. It all has to come from God: that energy and ability. Even if a person is an atheist, they are aware of their own ability inside that is powerful. Whatever one wants to call it, it is something significant. It isn’t apart from them, or me; it’s real and it is amazing.
THAT is my power. I may tap into my power from time to time, but I need and want a consistent and dependable, practical way to do it, to live that way. I’m learning from this book and it is thrilling.
Love is part of this picture, because “God is Love.” I want this too in my life—more love. It’s a package deal.
