WE or ME

Not too many writings ago I utilized a commonly (among Christians) used prayer in response to His disciples:

Luke 11: 1-5: Now once HE (Jesus) was in a certain place praying, and when He was finished one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He (Jesus) said to them, “Say this when you pray:
“Our Father which art 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
As we forgive those who have trespassed against us.…………..

I was thinking about that the other day and have recited it in my life almost as many times as I have lived every day. Not to be holy, but because I memorized it in Sunday Schools and prayer services as me the adult, and it just never left my mind. As I wrote utilizing it the other day I recognized something that I had never considered.

I Can’t see the forest for the trees came to mind.

The disciple prefaced it this way: “Lord, teach us to pray…..”

In Unorthodox Christianity looking outside the box can teach.

FORGIVE US Our TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE….. … It didn’t wring true to me for someone who struggled up to Golgotha and was Crucified on behalf of everyone else in the world. What did He say: “Forgive them Father, they know not what the do”.

I read it again, and again. FORGIVE US? What about me? I trespassed, not US. The universal group did not trespass against the bully. The universal group did not talk about someone else. I DID. It is too easy to blame the US, it is much closer to home to blame the ME. Pass the buck is followed by THE BUCK STOPS HERE.

Forgiving yourself of a trespass is as important as asking GOD to forgive you.

It is hard to forgive those who trespass against you, very hard in certain situations, but it is always harder to forgive the person in the mirror. Love Your neighbor as yourself, depends on you being able to forgive yourself first. GOD will always recognize the whats and the whys , but you have to forgive yourself so that you know Love your neighbor as yourself and to know what it looks and feels like.

See beyond the forest. THE BUCK STOPS HERE. Whether talking Christian or anything else, life for you becomes your responsibility.

“FATHER FORGIVE ME AS I FORGIVE THOSE……”