Our Father, Who Is In Heaven

I am reading a fascinating book about the Lord's Prayer. The author takes each phrase and expounds on it in ways I have never heard before. In the liturgy at my church we say the Lord's Prayer before communion. This book has totally changed this well-known prayer for me and I will never take any word of it for granted again and I am only at the "Who art in heaven" chapter!!

The chapter discusses the difficulty we have as humans in understanding just who we are praying to - "When we locate the presence of God "in heaven" in the Lord's Prayer, we are not confining God to a snail-mail address or physical location.... No word or image can accurately describe this ineffable, unapproachable and incomprehensible God who lives in heaven."

So many times I think I have arrived at finally understanding God, only to be frustrated by His revealing something else of Himself to me. And when I pray, I think I know this God I am praying to - but do I really know Him - the God who is in heaven?

The author continues: " God refuses to become an object that can be contained by the human mind. God lives in heaven! God dwells in unapproachable light. God is like the air we breathe: we can never grasp it in our hands. God is like the horizon: we can never take in its length in one single glance. ... Indeed it is an arrogant presumption to think God can be captured, photographed, contained or described by the human mind or heart. God is God: totally other, totally transcendent."

Wow, how liberating this is. I don't have to figure Him out! I just have to believe in who He is, allow Him to be outside of whatever box I put Him in and let Him be the God that He is. Even though the nature of God puts Him way outside of what I can understand, it is not discouraging - for He meets me where I am at - He is my (our)Father, my Abba, who lives in heaven. What more can I ask for?

(From "Living the Lord's Prayer" by Albert Haase)