Last Sunday, I was intrigued by the version of the Lord’s Prayer shared by Rev. David Robinson at CSL Olympia. Personally, I have never entertained any other version than the one I learned as a child: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …”
During my Catholic upbringing, I remember rattling off that prayer numerous times, especially during Lent and after Confession. Honestly, it became something I said, not something I meant.
But after listening to Rev. David’s talk, I did some research. This is a version of the Lord’s Prayer, I found shared by The Church of the Redeemer, in Baltimore, Maryland:
Abwoon d’bwashmaya (Our Father which art in heaven)
Most Holy ONENESS of the Cosmos: Source of LIGHT and SOUND and Breath; You birth me and ALL that is!Nethqadash shmakh (Hallowed be thy name)
Clear the space of my Heart so that YOU may LIVE within me.Teytey malkuthakh (Thy kingdom come)
Your “I CAN” O Holy ONE, is my “I can,” so birth this new image in and through me!Nehwey tzevyanach aykanna d’bwashmaya aph b’arha (Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven)
As YOUR desire is in heaven, make it so in all the earth…especially in the earth that is my body.Hawvlan lachma d’sunqana yaomana (Give us this day our daily bread)
Produce with life and soul, food for our eating, and an illuminated measure of insight and understanding for this day…moment by moment.Washboqlan khaubayn (wakhtahayn) aykanna daph khnan shbwoqan l’khayyabayn ( And forgive us our debts, awsw we forgive our debtors)
Return us to our original state of slender ties—releasing and letting go with every breath, the tangled threads that bind us—just as we release (and no longer hold on to) the tangled threads of others’ guilt. Help us to FLOW and let go!Wela tahln l’nesyuna Ela patzan min bisha (And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil)
Do not let us enter into anything that causes us inner vacillation or agitation from our true purpose in life. Give us freedom to act at the right time and produce good fruit.Metol dilakhie malkutha wahayla wateshbukhta l’ahlam almin. Ameyn. (For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.)
For Your “I CAN” is the Life Force energy of the Cosmos, giving Light and Sound to ALL that IS; in harmony and balance from age to age (as in a Dance)! Amen.
I found this new translation to be an intriguing, beautiful prayer. Of course, it is not only the words we speak in prayer, but it is the feeling and atmosphere we create through our prayers.
We don’t need a special translation to feel our prayers.
To learn more about creating an open and loving atmosphere around prayer, I have written a digital guide that outlines steps to help me pray more deeply and effectively: Secrets for Deepening Prayer and Spiritual Connections.
You can order your copy here.