29 January 2012

The Leader's Prayer

Our Leader, who’s art is power,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy nation come,
thy will be done
to us, as desired by power.
Give us this day our daily dose,
And forbid us all trespassing,
as we fear those who trespass against us.
And lead us not from addiction,
but surround us with evil.
For thine is the Nation, the Power and the Money,
for ever and ever.

Amen
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7 comments:

Debra said...

Hey, Toby, how ironic that you put this up.
One good turn deserves another.
Last night, I did my poetry reading.
What I omitted to read, but really should have, goes like this :
From 1 Samuel, Chapter 2, Hannah's Prayer, and not Hannah's Song, which is MINE...
Hannah is one of the multitude of Jewish Old Testament women who are sterile in a culture where children are a testimony to women's fecundity. (Hey... gotta get channel that WILL TO MULTIPLY somewhere...)
When, after praying to God in peculiar circumstances which you can look up, because they are interesting, her wish is fulfilled, and she is delivered of her first born son, here is her prayer :

"My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord ; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in THY salvation....
Talk no more so exceeding proudly ; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth ; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
The BOWS OF THE MIGHTY MEN ARE BROKEN, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
They that were full have hired out themselves for bread ; and they that were hungry ceased...
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive : he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.
The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich : he bringeth low, and lifteth up....
He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness ; FOR BY STRENGTH SHALL NO MAN PREVAIL...."
Two comments here : you can count the number of times that a woman opens her mouth and speaks personally in the Old Testament on the fingers of one hand. Because Antiquity, Judeo-Christian, and Greco-Roman, was a world where MEN SPOKE publicly, not women.. (for lots of different reasons, and feminism has made a mockery of this, unfortunately...)
So... when Hannah opens her mouth, and sums up the JEWISH CREDO in a nutshell, well, it is worth remembering, and paying attention to HER, IT, and it is in capital letters above.
FOR BY STRENGTH SHALL NO MAN PREVAIL.
That, Toby... is a direct admonition for our times...
Because I suppose I shall have to say that for me, this is TRUTH, and we have lost sight of it at this time.

29 January, 2012 10:29
Toby said...

Debbie, I find that very powerful stuff, so thank you for it. I must admit to a weird 'macho' resistance to the 'impotence' of being in the hands of a 'power' greater than my ego. Submitting to something like Greater Than Little Me is an act of faith, inescapably. And it can wipe you out too, need not save you, or 'reward' you, etc. Perhaps today we might call god chaos, or entropy, or that which cannot be controlled. Or perhaps we might see it that way simply because of how we perceive 'order.' An interesting, if not pivotal, arena of thought and wisdom for sure.

I hope your reading went well.

29 January, 2012 10:46
Debra said...

Yes, Toby, my reading went well.
What you express about resistance to "submitting to", is, for me, one of the major reasons why we are collectively making a hash job of our existences at this time, and considerably suffering from it, as a result.
My theory ? Haggles between the sexes. Both sexes trying to usurp the domain of the other, not recognizing their COMPLEMENTARITY, and giving in to constant, tiring competition.
Please don't get the idea that I am suggesting that I am doing any better at SUBMITTING than anybody else at this time. Unfortunately.
Submitting ? at least being able to say... THY will be done. (But since I like to tamper with the Book, I also like to suggest that maybe, maybe... we can look for a solution where OUR will can be done, without making it into a contest where it is EITHER YOUR OR MY will.
But this is very very hard work.

29 January, 2012 13:53
Toby said...

"But this is very very hard work."

Yes, because the shift of perception needed, though in some ways tiny, requires a miracle. Lots of miracles. Without miracles we're soon going to be an ex-species.

But, perhaps those miracles are 'out there' happening right now. If you can find an hour and a half, this talk with Charles Eisenstein is worth it:

http://www.box.com/shared/static/df7auanjc1dgijj8shik.mp3

The theme of miracles comes up and makes for very interesting listening.

29 January, 2012 14:04
Debra said...

Specially for you, Toby. ;-)

http://sierraclub.typepad.com/explore/2012/01/the-beauty-of-a-map.html

31 January, 2012 20:44
Toby said...

Thank you, Debbie, I find that really beautiful.

"Find me a dead cloud
and a sharp piece of science.
I want to see the skeleton
of weather.
And let me map
all maps we have mistaken for the world,
and learn by heart the timetable of dice,
and in our clutching, self-invented dance steps
see
An accidental grace
A choreography."

Alan Moore

01 February, 2012 10:29
Debra said...

Thank you, Toby.
That's a nice poem.

01 February, 2012 21:44

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