The Phil Files

Monday, May 11, 2009

Listening to Jesus, I learn to pray the following:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.“

Early Monday evening, we drove from Abilene to Lubbock. This is normally a pretty barren and flat land, punctuated with a few mesquite trees, some crp, and flat top hills. These days, the first part of the trip — from Sweetwater to Snyder — has more windmills than you can count. Their rhythmically turning blades fade off in every direction as far as the eye can see. Some of these wind turbines are on flat range land and others are on the top of the flat top hills. Heavy clouds hung low in the sky and the wind slowly began shifting from the northwest to the southeast.

Then we hit some huge flat parrie land between Snyder and Post punctuated by larger flat top mountains and we made our way of the rugged terrain and came up on the caprock. I love this rugged stretch of land, and as the light danced through the dark clouds and the western skyline began to glow orange, I marveled at the beauty of God’s handiwork in this rugged and otherwise desolate landscape.

The earth is such and incredibly large canvas upon which God places his unmistakable fingerprints. No wonder I am to revere the LORD’s name and give Him glory. He deserves all I can imagine and muster in myself, and more. And so I cry out to you, O God, “Hallowed be your name … For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”