by Gabe Willows

Created on: April 09, 2008

My grandfather watched carefully as I repeated the Lord's Prayer over and over while holding my rosary. Then he asked if I knew The Lord's Prayer. I looked at him with surprise. "Of course I do Grandpa!" I answered thinking that there was something wrong, "Haven't you been hearing me say it?". With that he handed me a pen and said "Okay write out what it means to you." It took nearly a month for me to get back to him, but his eyes welled up with tears as I handed him the crumpled up paper with these words written upon it:

Heavenly Creator Jehovah Elohim we call upon your name that you might be assured that there are no other gods before You. We praise Your Holy name and all that It stands for.

We pray that those things that You have already predestined come swiftly; for we are ready and willing to accept those things that we cannot change.

We pray that like the birds of the sky, You will feed all nations without worry: our children, our brothers and our sisters, from every region of the world, we humbly as that we may all find a bit of food this day that our bodies be nourished.

We love and forgive: those who abused us, the ones who used to beat us, the families that turned us away when we ran away from home, the people who laughed as they mocked us for our beliefs and struck down someone we cared for; our only companion when we were alone, those who took away our lively hood because we were different and those who turned the other direction when we needed help.
We hope and pray that You will forgive us for the days that we turned our backs on You.

Please help us follow the right path that we may stay away from those substances that might seem to save us for a little while and those who would force us to take it.

Heavenly Creator Jehovah Elohim, we are Your creation through Your spirit and Your benevolence, from the very first day until the end of time.

Amen

Sometimes we discount the wisdom of our elders. My Grandfather taught me that even when having said The Lord's Prayer thousands of times, it's meaning to each individual will evolve and mature as you evolve and mature. These are the living words, given to us by the wisdom of the living God to keep for all times as example of a perfect prayer.

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