View from the Pew
A look inside Hawaii's houses of worship
Mary Adamski
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRYANT FUKUTOMI / BFUKUTOMI@STARBULLETIN.COM
Makiki church volunteers and the military chaplain who made and distributed prayer beads to battlefront-bound soldiers last week included a note with their gift. A Nuuanu group looks for
guidance in The Lord's PrayerThere's no right or wrong way to pray on the beads, said the card -- "Often the best prayers are spontaneous and come straight from the heart."
But for those who prefer a more traditional approach to prayer, there is a script for addressing the Almighty that is familiar to any Christian. It so happens that script, "The Lord's Prayer," is being dissected and discussed in a Lenten series at noontime Wednesdays at Nuuanu Congregational Church.
The small gathering in Pastor Tom Fujita's study Wednesday was asked to analyze the famous how-to advice from Jesus with a "what does this phrase mean?" approach, a format that has been used through the ages.
One well-known version is from Martin Luther's "Little Instruction Book," in which the Protestant reformer wrote that "deliver us from evil" covers threat to our soul and our honor, not just to body and prosperity.
Luther said that when we ask, "Give us this day our daily bread," it means: "Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful neighbors and other things like these." You don't need to draw God a picture; one word says it all.
"You know the saying: Be careful what you pray for," said Fujita. "When you say, 'Your kingdom come, your will be done,' don't forget God's kingdom is for everybody. It's not going to be SUVs and 200 channels for 5 percent of the world. The ultimate sin of America is to think, 'We deserve this.' Everything we've got is because of grace, not that it is owed to us."
The Lord's Prayer appears in two of the gospels. Fujita said he likes to think of that cozy scene from Luke, Chapter 11, in which Jesus responds to a follower's request to "teach us to pray" by laying out eight lines of praise and petition in the simplest language.
But we looked at the other reference, in Mark, Chapter 6. There the instruction of how to address God comes in the context of Jesus' long day of preaching the sermon on the mount. It followed his message to "love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you."
Our little study group agreed that the concept is as radical in the 21st century as it was for the Jews then who wanted a Messiah to smite their Roman conquerors, not tell them to embrace the guys.
Rose Nishihara said American soldiers translate those words into deeds whenever they provide food, water or medical care to Iraqis. I wondered if the simple words fell somewhat flat on the ears of that first audience, accustomed as they were to the dramatic, poetic language of the psalms.
There are times in your life when you put the accent on one phrase. It's "Thy will be done" when there's a loss or illness to accept. "Lead us not into temptation" as a young swinger segues into "as we forgive those who trespass against us" as an aggrieved spouse or parent.
I don't expect argument when I say "deliver us from evil" is the phrase of the day. That's not just true for a khaki-clad warrior in the terrifying clamor and bloodlust of battle in Iraq, but for the person praying alone and fearful at 3 a.m. in a quiet bedroom in Hawaii.
Crib notes from Fujita to the Wednesday class explored the Lord's Prayer's final petition:
"We ask God to protect us from our own worst impulses and from all external powers of destruction in the world. We ask that we might not yield to despair in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstances. We pray for the grace to remember and believe, despite our unbelief, that no matter how bleak the world may sometimes seem, there is a depth of love which is deeper than our despair."
Whew, a lot of words to sum up the simple four words, "Deliver us from evil." That's what makes the simplicity of the prayer so perfect. We all weave our own personal text around that clear framework every time we say it.
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Mary Adamski covers religion for the Star-Bulletin.
Email her at madamski@starbulletin.com.
