Saturday, March 5
Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Trespass. In daily life, we tend only to think of this somewhat archaic word in terms of “No trespassing” signs which caused me, as a youth, to think this was about walking on someone else’s land. That image stuck until I attended other churches which substituted “sins” or “debts”. Those altered words updated my understanding but caused even more difficulties for me.
I don’t owe any people money, and to my recollection no one owes me debts of their own. And “sin” seems like too lofty a word for my Protestant sensibilities to even consider an occasion in which someone could sin against me. Sure, people might let me down, but “sin”? Against me? Seems very extreme.
Maybe none of them is the perfect word for the job. And who of us could possibly know what Christ himself (or early church writers) might have meant by this portion of the prayer? As with so many of my reflections, I’m honestly not sure it matters too much.
Regardless of word choice, the sentiment seems pretty straightforward to me. It’s a self-realization that I often fail to live up to standards, be they imposed by my religion, my community, my wife, or, worst of all, myself. As if that recognition of fault weren’t difficult enough, additionally, I’m requested to flip that by forgiving those who have come up short with me. Wow. When updated with this language in mind, this becomes one of the most challenging sections of the Lord’s Prayer.
I feel like I’m forever coming up short. It’s rare that I’m told so by people around me, but as I mentioned above, I’m my toughest critic. I often find that I haven’t been able to live up to a commitment I made to myself, or feel like I could do much more for my family and friends. I know in my heart that I’m being too hard on myself, but the resultant feeling is the same. More often, I need to forgive myself. If I were to rewrite this prayer, I think I might take out the supplication asking God to forgive me (my faith tells me that’s a no-brainer) and replace it with a line asking for strength to be less hard on myself.
Forgiving God, today I ask you to help me honor my strengths and limitations, that I may do my best in all things, and realize that that is enough. Amen.
–Rick Seaholm