We are in the season of prayers or of good wishes for a new beginning in our lives. After due reflection, there are some things we did last year we wished we haven’t done or we could have done differently. A good reflection will lead all conscious beings to seek some kind of power to enable them to rethink and to redo every gamut of actions in their lives that they deemed fell below their adjudged moral and ethical standards.
And one of the first steps towards a new beginning is the solemn contract we make within ourselves as we formulate our wishes for a new year. In our religion dominated world, these wishes are often formulated and expressed as prayers that have to be said in a sacred religious place as per the dictates of our ‘spiritual’ leaders.
The question arises, who/what do we really pray to for assistance in times of earthly problems and difficulties as we seek the stamp of approval to our solemn contracts? This is where we all have problems of conception and practice. It is a deep philosophical or theological area which I don’t plan to address in this short dialogue.
However, for now let us work on the common understanding that there is some practices or habits called prayer and that most sentient beings indulge in the practice. Under this assumption, I wish to re-present an ancient prayer which has been made very popular by the Christians. This prayer is called, The Lord’s Prayer and can be found in the Gospel of Matthew 6: 9-13.
In that prayer, the world is made to understand that a simple teacher from Galilee, who, at the request of those around him during a teaching session was recorded to have said:
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
It is a simple and beautiful prayer with a universal appeal. I wish to recommend this payer to all people seeking deliverance from our world of illusion.
Having been taught this prayer from kindergarten; having joined the congregation of faithful believers in rendering it at every opportunity; and having put the prayer under the searchlight of the spirit of truth, I wish to re-present this prayer as follows:
The Lord’s Prayer Re-presented
Our creator that resides everywhere in the world,
Hallowed be the Nameless One.
Let your divine kingdom of love come to earth soon.
Let your will be done on earth world as it is done in the spirit world.
Give us today our daily bread of spiritual consciousness.
Forgive us our errors as we forgive the errors of our neighbours, friends and family.
Give us wisdom to guide us through temptations.
And let the power of your love, glory and honour reign forever in our lives.
I shall try to offer some common sense explanations to some of the reformulated or reworded concepts in the adapted prayer in subsequent essays.
In the meantime, please reflect on the new prayer and consider the sense (if any) of the adaptations therein.
In The Spirit of Truth
SAM ABBD ISRAEL
ITSOT 
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