In the Lord’s Prayer, the fourth line is most often translated as, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This might seem straight forward, but Christians, as well as Jews and Muslims in their own traditions, have all struggled with understanding and doing God’s will. The phrase is often quoted by pastors, priests, politicians, so-called influencers, news commentators and even coaches to impute God’s will to any given situation. Too often, these references are used to lend support to a person’s human opinion of what should be the outcome of a particular event.

When God’s will is used to justify things like wars, slavery, inequality of the races or sexes, justification for amassing wealth or breaking any of the commandments, one would be wise to step back and consider the fundamental teachings of the man who gave us the Lord’s Prayer. The foundation of Jesus’ teaching is love and it is from that basis that he gave us his prayer. His life exemplified that prayer and provided the example of how we must try to live ours.

It is from this context of love that Jesus refers to God’s will. The word “will,” however is an unfortunate translation from the Aramaic language that Jesus spoke in that it is usually taken as being a command. In the Aramaic language the word more accurately describes a desire or yearning. In other words, it is the intention that arises from love. The God of the Aramaic Lord’s Prayer does not command. The God to whom Jesus prayed yearns for the full expression of Divine Love in the physical world. So, one might ask, how can the prayer possibly be used to legitimize slavery, endorse war or killing, or justify the unequal treatment of human beings based on race, sex or color?

The Lord’s prayer goes on to ask that this expression of love be expressed on earth as it is in heaven. In the language of Jesus, earth is not a fallen realm. It is the dimension in which Divine Love seeks full expression. This takes the work of every man, woman and child to fulfill.

Jesus asked for “laborers” to do the work to manifest God’s will. As he stated, “the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.” The question for each of us is, are we humbly listening for God’s will in our lives and acting accordingly? Or are we substituting our will and calling it the will of God?

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Charles Wellington is a lifelong student of the teachings of Christ Jesus and regularly meditates with the Great Plains Zen Center in Monroe.