Saturday, Feb. 13
Our Father Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name…
In my first grade Sunday School Class we spent an entire year memorizing The Lord’s Prayer. After awhile when we would begin the prayer I would envision God as a tall man with long hair and a beard, sitting on a hill surrounded by little children. Later in the year I decided to share this picture of God with my Sunday School teacher. But she immediately told me I was picturing Jesus and that was not God. She said I needed to pay more attention to my Sunday School lessons. I wanted her to like me so I agreed with her but I still saw God as a tall man with long hair and a beard sitting on a hill surrounded by children. By second grade Sunday School my vision of “Our Father” was of a ghostlike figure that hovered between the sky and the earth. One day halfway through the year I shared this with my teacher and saw a horrified look come over her face. She informed me I should spend more time reading the Bible and less time with ghost stories and that she was disappointed in me. I assured her I would try to picture God differently but I still saw this vision of God when I prayed the Lord’s Prayer.
By the time I was in third grade, my family had bought a summer cottage and we spent the summers there. Our next door neighbor was a woman in her 60’s who came from Norway. Mrs. Hamre learned that I loved my Bible Stories so invited me to study with her every weekday morning for an hour. I loved those times and really looked forward to our 7am studies. We would begin each study by repeating The Lord’s Prayer together. I trusted Mrs. Hamre enough to share with her my pictures of God and she assured me that there was nothing wrong with my ideas. How I saw God was between me and God and she was pleased that I trusted her enough to tell her how I felt.
Well, over the years my pictures of God have changed many times. I never again shared any of my visions with my Sunday school teachers but I credit Mrs. Hamre and the time she took studying the Bible with me for keeping me connected to the church. And, today when I am crocheting prayer shawls or baby afghans, I talk to God and sometimes I even tell God how I saw him when I was a kid and I envision that God probably laughs with me and might even say that I have come a long way since first grade Sunday School. God is indeed with me all the time.
God, teach us to see you with us always. Amen.
–Ellie Kell