(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Jesus is NOT the Answer, but He Taught us how to Pray [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-14 Things are crazy in America. We’re operating without a Speaker of the House for the first time in our history. Our Congress is full of Climate Change/Science deniers. An entire political party has sold itself to the cult of Donald Trump, a bona fide madman. The Party of Jesus worships a man who has cheated on all three of his wives, once with a porn star. We call them the MAGA Cult. They even built a golden idol in his likeness. Racism is once again openly celebrated. One Senator has single-handedly blocked all efforts to staff our military, who protect us from threats both domestic and abroad. Gun deaths are higher than they have ever been, and the Party of Jesus opposes any efforts to curb the violence. One Congresswoman gave her boyfriend a hand job in a theater full of children. Those who claim to know the difference between right and wrong have begun to wage war against anyone who seeks to protect the poor and defenseless. All in the name of Jesus. But let’s be clear. None of this is Jesus’ fault. It’s the refrain of the Evangelical whenever something horrific happens: “Thoughts and prayers.” When things seem far too out of control (usually brought about by the Party of Jesus), our leaders, spiritual and otherwise, call for a “day of prayer.” This is how our religious and political leaders choose to deal with our problems. “They pray.” First, they create the problem and then ask Jesus to resolve that problem. Because, as they have told us over and over again, “Jesus is the answer.” However, Jesus is NOT the answer. When we view Jesus as a ‘great exception,’ we miss the point of what his life represented—to us and those who claimed to know him. Jesus wasn’t an exception; he was an example of what humanity could attain. Jesus tapped into something that astounded those around him so much that they were willing to leave everything, including family security, to follow him. According to his biographers, Jesus' view of Yahweh, or Elohim, was unique. While God had been called a father in Jewish literature, Jesus took that further; he used an Aramaic term, “daddy.” Fathers in those times were heads of households; they made the decisions for their wives and children and were not to be questioned. Any disrespect from children could result in stoning. Father was a term of respect. Yet Jesus saw beyond that. To Jesus, God was far more intimate—"Daddy.” There’s no question that the Jesus written about in the gospels was enlightened. The challenge is those who wrote about him were not, and they set Jesus up in a position that would forever disempower humanity. They ceded our power to a concept that Jesus didn’t preach. Jesus did not appear to be under any illusions that God would do his work for him—even delivering Israel from the Romans. The Aramaic word that Jesus used for prayer suggests that Jesus fully intended to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty. Jesus’ overarching message: The “Kingdom of Heaven is at hand/within...” and “WE are The Kingdom of Heaven…” all suggested that when our prayers went out to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of Heaven listened and responded. In modern terms, we pray to us, and WE respond. The word “prayer” in Aramaic meant, among other things, “to set a trap for God.” This isn’t so much a hunting term but a ‘trapping’ term. Jesus knew that God was moving throughout the Kingdom and saw prayer as a way to capture that character. Jesus wanted to grasp God: Its ideas, thoughts, and intentions. In other words, Jesus set up his life so that his very personage drew God to him and retained that presence once it had shown up. He set himself and his life so that wherever and whenever God was near, Jesus could “catch” him. Yet God is big prey, and capturing It wouldn’t be easy. So Jesus fasted, prayed, wrestled, and followed Jewish observances—all to keep the channel open so that his very being was ready to hold onto such an overwhelming potentiality. Using even the smallest of that force, Jesus would tap into the guidance and wisdom of this ‘detainee’ to accomplish whatever he saw that the Kingdom of Heaven wanted—or needed to be accomplished. Jesus “caught” God and God’s directions to help humanity. He didn't try to get God to do the work for him. Make no mistake. Prayer wasn't Jesus' action—prayer was his preparation for action. The purpose of prayer, as Jesus taught, is to shut up and listen. God doesn't need to hear from us. We need to hear from It. We do not pray for “God's” sake; we pray for ours. We pray so that God will communicate with us how we can help with this particular piece of The Kingdom of Heaven. If we don’t want to do anything, then we don’t pray. That gives us plenty of time on the sidelines to post more cat memes and take more selfies while pursing our lips toward the camera. As the Christian apologist C.S. Lewis famously said: Prayer does not change God; it changes us. Many are looking to the day Jesus returns, and we will finally be free. They long for that day when there will be “no more sighing neither sorrow nor death.” A day that Jesus himself didn’t appear to embrace. However, by waiting for that day, they’ve relinquished their power and, in so doing, have made themselves victims. Life happens… to us, and rather than expend our energy to make life happen, we surrender to what doesn’t have to be. This wasn’t the case with Jesus. He called upon a God that worked through him, not around him—or despite him. He knew what God would do for him and what God would not do for him. Jesus never asked God for anything. His prayers consisted of thanking the Father that answers had already been provided because of the work he had already done. And it was his job to act on those insights. Even in that moment of complete despair, in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed, “Let this cup pass from my lips,” he already knew the answer and that he would have to face it. As James, the little brother of Jesus said most succinctly: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ~ James 2:14-17 Jesus isn’t the answer; he’s an example. We must stop waiting for him to rescue us and instead take on his approach to prayer. This teaches us how to solve the problems that we most likely created. We may find that many of the things we were waiting for are already here. If the Party of Jesus were to actually pray—in the framework in which Jesus prayed—they would discover that, at this moment, they’re not praying to God. They’re praying to their own dogma—their own ego. And their ego can’t save them (or us) because it can’t see beyond their ideology. They’ve frightened their quarry away rather than coaxed it toward them. Their trap is empty. And using an empty trap is just insanity. 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