On Prayer

I offer but one single prayer to you;
It is the one I offered once, still said.
But somewhat changed, so I will change it too

Each person has a prayer or two inside;
Pray keep them there, for prayers are not for show.
How they became so, ask the priests, not me;
Tome upon tome of words, no privacy.

A prayer is your compact with Abba now,
Abba within, a single tie affirmed.

Here is a way that you can say it now:

Abba whose home in heaven is
Hallowed and holy is your name
Let your realm come your will be done
'Till earth and heaven are the same

Give us this day our daily bread
Forgive the wrongs that we have done
As we forgive those who do wrong
Lead us not into temptation

Deliver us from evil, Lord
And guide us safely to your shore
Yours is the power to heal and mend
Yours is the glory evermore

(In point of fact, I sing these lines out loud,
In elevators, on the street, in crowds.
Not so the world can hear my dulcet tones,
But out of joy or need or just because.)

Let me explain the ending, lest you ask,
Why would I call a friend inside you Lord?
A prayer need only be the slightest nod;
Still Abba may be called the the Lord of all
For as we do befriend our Abba now,
We open up the total scope of all;
And come, in time, to trust its tendencies,
Without claiming to know its mysteries.

Priests took upon their shoulders knowing's weight,
And spun for all their bland cosmologies;
And earth became the residence of fools,
Instead of what makes sense, the home of schools.

We come from accident or will somehow,
And our awareness rises as we grow;
And life for each is knowing Abba's ways,
Or being deaf and dumb to life itself.

If I say, Heaven is where Abba lives,
I speak of where you can live, if you will.
If I say, Hallowed, holy be a name,
Hallowed and holy is the state we seek.

If I say, Your realm come, your will be done,
I merely preface what the next line says;
To wit: Let earth and heaven be the same.

Our daily bread: the need is plain enough
Less plain, our simple power to share with all.
Whence comes the prayer, Forgive our foolish ways;
And then, exactly what forgiveness takes.

That evil is, is never once denied,
Though half the time it is in our own eyes.
Get through the day with life intact, will do;
Keep your eye out and act with reason, too.

Abba can heal and, yes, Abba can mend;
And Abba's glory triumphs now and then.
And, yes, we trust its triumph in the end.

This is the substance of the only prayer I teach;
It is enough to say it to yourself.
Abba will hear. You need not speak a word.

I brought the Temple down once. It survives.
I'd rather that this simple teaching thrive.