Imaginative Prayers from the Original Language of Jesus, Part IV
A Lenten Series by Beth A. Booram
I’ve been thinking a lot these days about my spiritual journey. About how I’m changing. (Maybe you’ve noticed me changing, too?) On our way home from church a few months back, I tried to put into words the shift I’m bearing witness to. “I feel like my discipleship is being completed,” I told David. By discipleship, I mean the way I follow Jesus, how I live out my faith, and what I give my attention to.
For many years, I’ve described myself as being at home in the Contemplative Christian tradition. David and I founded Fall Creek Abbey to “renew the contemplative spirit.” Most of the folks who participate in our School of Spiritual Direction are contemplatives, many of whom speak of “finding their people” when they join a cohort. It’s been a wonderful place to nurture my love relationship with God!
Recently, however, the Spirit has been forming in me the counterbalance to contemplation, which is action. As I continue along the critical journey, as I live in a racially and economically diverse community, and as we participate at The Table, a church where doing justice is part of the DNA of the community, I’m witnessing my discipleship being completed. Now by completed, I certainly don’t mean becoming perfect or having it all together! But rather having it filled in or filled out. It’s happening as I recognize (in a new way) what God calls good and act on behalf of that good:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Which brings me to the third and fourth lines in the Lord’s Prayer from the original language (Aramaic) of Jesus:
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
According to linguist Neil Douglas-Klotz, the Aramaic word malkuthakh could be translated as either kingdom or queendom (kin-dom) and refers to a quality of rulership and ruling principles that guide our lives toward unity with God and God’s purposes in the world. Notice the word quality. God’s kin-dom will bear a certain quality in the way it governs; one that is just, merciful, and humble, according to the prophet Micah.
Now, the word for come (teytey) suggests an intimate image of a nuptial chamber where we become one with God and God’s purposes; where mutual love and desire are exchanged and fulfilled, and where co-creative action is birthed. In this hallowed union, we are inspired to participate in the actions of God’s kin-dom. Douglas-Klotz describes it as the birth of “I can” within us. It is a holy moment when we consent to co-create with God in bringing the values of heaven to earth. This is the work of contemplation. But it doesn’t stop there.
In the first four lines of the Lord’s prayer, Jesus actually described (in his original language) the process (conversion) by which we become a contemplative-in-action:
¹“ We have remembered our source in Abwoon, the source of all parenting. We have let go to clear a holy place inside for this realization to live. From this new beginning, we have clarified our goals, realized the power of our co-creation, and envisioned our next step. Now we are ready to act.”
The Conversion of a Contemplative-in-Action
This coalescing of loving desire with demonstration is what many call becoming a contemplative-in-action. ²According to Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon, a contemplative-in-action is someone who’s “doing flows from a rich inner life of prayer and discernment.” In this descriptor, it is not enough to simply be a lover of God. Action is required—action that naturally flows from authentic love; and love that naturally flows from good action.
Connecting loving contemplation with right action is one of the clear indicators of spiritual progress along the critical journey. Love in action looks like doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. It’s not just any action. And it’s undoubtedly not re-action! It is action that resembles the quality of what God deems good and what God desires for the world. That’s where Christians seem to be most at odds today.
Here are some questions you might consider related to your own discipleship and conversion to becoming a contemplative-in-action:
What new desires or shifts do you notice being birthed in you these days?
How will you take action on the “new” that is springing up?
Does your action embody justice, mercy, and humility toward all?
A Body and Breath Prayer:
³Upon finding yourself caught in a habitual response –to relationships, work, or any other life situation—that does not further your purpose, use the body prayer of the inner shrine to clear space and envision a new response. Breathe Abwoon, and ask God for confirmation. The action will never go against your conscience. Envision it so clearly that you feel it in your body. Then when the situation arises, act from the heart before the mind can drag you back to a habitual response.
¹Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Meaning of Jesus’s Words, by Neil Douglas-Klotz
²Urgings of the Heart: A Spirituality of Integration, by Wilkie Au and Noreen Cannon
³Prayers of the Cosmos: Reflections on the Original Meaning of Jesus’s Words, by Neil Douglas-Klotz