Our Father, who art in heaven...what do You expect from us?

It's Wednesday and I don't know when this post will be done. But the fact that it is Wednesday has it's own set of implications...primarily the fact that it is on Wednesdays and only Wednesdays I teach sixth, seventh, and eighth graders (with Mike), and that opened up the doors for a discussion (if you could call it that) that was entirely spontaneous and took me by surprise.

Last week in class we talked about the "Our Father" and the Gospel story in Matthew that goes along with that. Our lesson plan was to unpack what we mean when we recite the Lord's Prayer which hopefully would first help the kids know what they were praying for and then, consequently, give the prayer more meaning (hopefully allowing them to mold it to the needs and experiences of their personal lives). However, as our experience of teaching on the Rez goes the class was...not quite what we (Mike and I) had hoped (although not bad).

Fast-forward a week, April 2nd, a very already an out of place day. Communion at the 20-Plex went longer than usual and there I had a unique encounter with one of the elders I frequently visit and give communion to (the topic of a later potential post). Then I receive a text from one of the people (who is wicked awesome) who works at the Mission that they needed to get in touch with me regarding a request made by the organizers of an Autism Awareness Presentation at the local college SGU (Sinte Gleska University). When I went over to the Admin building to talk with said mission worker, I heard from the receptionist at the front desk was that recently (I actually don't know when) there was a seventeen year old shot in Mission (a town 30 minutes from St. Francis were we live) who was involved in robbing a house. He had succumbed to his wounds. This had become the latest fatality of this kind in recent months. Absolutely tragic.

Fast forward to class.

Three kids show up to class since the rest are testing. One asks about the shooting and I confirm that I've heard the same thing. The review worksheet we have is handed out and we give them time to work on it. It comes to my attention that they aren't really engaged with it and rapidly class is becoming anything but...class. Leading class at this point I spontaneously decide to scrap the lesson plan (somewhat common depending on how the class is) and discuss the shooting...in the context of the Lord's Prayer. At that time the rest of the class enters and they sit down a little rowdy so we sit in quite and prepare for discussion.

I won't give a recap of the discussion per say but rather the major points we tried to convey to these (wicked smaht) kids. First, the Lord's Prayer is more than a prayer, for what good is it to pray for those in need and then...do nothing? The Lord's Prayer is a call to action and if we pray it then we better damn well do something because saying the prayer is the first half, the second half of the prayer, is going out and bringing about the Kingdom of God through actions in the world (Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven). It's like the prayer of St. Francis, where we pray to God asking for Him to make us "...a channel of [God's] peace." Yes God does good in the world but there is an expectation that we are a part of the process, as one of my favorite St. Augustine quotes goes, "Pray so though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you."

So while we're trying to get these middle-school kids to take on the responsibility of being role-models and the like, especially considering the tragic event that sparked this conversation...there's a recognition that the evils of the world are big...very big. Too big for one person, too big for one middle school student. The Lord's Prayer talks about that too (Give us this day our daily bread). Asking God to give us the grace to deal with the challenges and injustices of the world that are in front of us right here and right now. Granted if everyone did that the world would be such a better place...however, being a bit of a realist that world doesn't exist (heck we say Thy Kingdom come - meaning it isn't here yet...but we have to bring it about!). That should be a source of confidence as the prayer tells us to focus on today for as Jesus says, "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day" (Matt. 6: 34).

Then one student makes a excellent comment; she observes that the people involved made poor decisions and then the consequences (tragically) followed. Yes, totally right. People make mistakes since we are all imperfect and screw-up every now and again. Totally valid. Lord's Prayer has got something to say about that too (Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us). I personally never realized the weight of this line until this year and that line is probably one of the heftiest and tallest orders in the whole thing. Break it down grammatically. We are asking God to forgive our sins in the same manner and likeness that we forgive those who sin/hurt/etc against us. Well hold up, if I ask God to forgive me the way I forgive others...then crap I'm in trouble (hey I ain't perfect but I'm working on getting better). To me that line is more of a standard than a reality in that God is pretty merciful and forgiving (or at least that is what my Faith/faith informs me) and that we're called to be like that. Okay not terribly surprising. We're all called to be Christ-like.

So looking at this prayer which is recited by so many people around the world everyday...and looking at the evils and injustices that go on in the world...are we (the collective of people who recite the prayer) living up to the expectation that the Lord's Prayer lays out? I'm not saying that everyone is a selfish slacker or something...far from that. But I just wonder since Pope Francis' call to go out to those on the fringes of society cause such a commotion (in a good way)...is there an awareness of the work to be done...or a lack of perspective of what is important...or of the privileges (or lack there of) that people have? Can the Lord's Prayer be recited (a prayer whose foundation is in living a life of nondiscriminatory love for the bringing about of God's Kingdom) with the expectation that God will work in the world and make things better...while maybe there is more love to given, more work to be done that isn't being addressed, investigated, made aware of? Can we ask God to do something about the evils in the world and ask God to bring about peace and other lovely things while maybe we (again collectively) who pray can perhaps do more? I say this not to discredit those who do work hard for these things, nor criticize or judge those who perhaps don't (for I myself am far from perfect and definitely could do more...and yet here I am, somewhat hypocritically). But if that is what the Lord's Prayer talks about and so many people recite it...it does beg the question...at least in my mind. And then add in the fact that perhaps this is somewhat (or totally) idealized thinking and mix in a heavy dose of reality and this only becomes more complicated...

So talking about this kind of stuff with the kids in class was obviously heavy. But, while the lesson was going on I saw some of them more zoned in then I have ever seen them all year. So maybe they got something (at least I hope). All I know is, and we (Mike and I) made this clear, that we, all sitting down talking and thinking about this, were in this journey of questions and struggles together. Perhaps the life struggles were different but we, the teachers, didn't have the answers. So for maybe twenty minutes, the labels of teacher and student, educator and learner, were removed and everyone was just human. Trying to understand the role God calls us to play...and thus were God is working...in this crazy, hectic, and unjust...yet calm, peaceful, and loving world we live in together.