The Social Form Implied in the Lord’s Prayer

The words that follow—“as above in the Heavens, so also on the earth”—are mostly linked onto the previous sentence: “Thy will be done.” The King James translation binds them even more strongly together: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” As we consider the social implications of the Lord’s Prayer, we can see that the words “as above in the heavens, so also on the earth” apply equally to all three of the petitions that we have spoken so far. The first observation that we can make is that in the Heavens all of the three petitions are fulfilled already: our Father’s name is hallowed, His kingdom is there, and His will is done. The question is not about the Heavens; it is about the earth. And this can lead us to a new understanding of what we are saying with the first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. To say them consequently, we must at the same time make the threefold resolution: Let us hallow Thy name; Let us accept the laws of Thy kingdom; let us do Thy will. With that we can proceed to the second half of the prayer.

Where the first part was directed to the attributes of our Father, the second part of the prayer is concerned for our needs as human beings. For each of the petitions, we express a need not on behalf of ourselves as separate individuals but as members of humanity, or even as members of creation.

The first of these petitions is “Give us this day our daily bread.” An alternative translation is offered in most translations: “Give us this day our bread for the morrow.” We are brought with these words into the realm of production, distribution and consumption—in other words into the economic realm. The true price for anything which has been produced is that amount which will enable the producer to make another article like the former. What we need economically at the end of one day is that which will enable us to live and work tomorrow. But more is implied: if we mean what we say with this petition, then we cannot intend to get our daily bread as the result of our own work. It is to be received as a gift, given to us by all those around us who are doing God’s will.

The second petition is the longest: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This is the one sentence which, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also commented on after He had given the Lord’s prayer. The prayer asks for forgiveness, but it places a condition on receiving forgiveness: in order that we may receive forgiveness, we must be able and willing to forgive. And while the forgiveness for which we ask is from our Father in the Heavens, the Forgiveness expected from us is towards out fellow human beings. When we are fully capable of this, a whole new impulse can enter into the legal life of society. Too much of our legal life is still based on the principle of revenge or fear; forgiveness is the law of the kingdom which is to come.

The third petition, “Lead us not into temptation”, places before us the danger of the spiritual-cultural life. The common reading of this sentence today is to reduce the stress level: the New English Bible renders it “Do not put us to the test.” But instead, let us ponder the phenomenon of temptation. To begin with, the archetypal image of temptation is the one in the Garden of Eden. The temptation that occurred there had to do with knowledge, and the opening of the senses. Knowledge can be understood in the widest possible sense, ranging from carnal knowledge to what we mean when we say know-how to the understanding of the world around us. From the time of the temptation knowledge began to be a part of the personal makeup of the human being, but in such a way that it could be considered as a possession. Instead of letting the world speak for itself, we take control of the world. The spiritual-cultural life is always related to knowledge, and it stands under the tendency to yield to temptation. But it is not our Father in the Heavens who leads us into temptation. When we accept His leadership, we are led away from temptation. Again, this prayer is closely linked to a resolution: Let us accept our Father in the Heavens as leader.

The fourth petition, “But deliver us from the evil”, reaches beyond life on earth to a realm where as social beings we are powerless. On earth we have the possibility to receive our daily bread in accordance with our needs rather than our desires and to help that our sisters and brothers may also receive theirs. We can forgive and accept forgiveness. We can also struggle with the temptations which come to us as we grow in knowledge. But this world is only a reflection of a world in which powerful beings are struggling to use us for their purposes. The threefold social organism on earth in its present form is the karmic result of our social interactions in past lives, and what we do now will in turn lead to the social form that we will find in future lives. And to bring the future conditions about we need the constant help of our Father in the Heavens.