Just a reminder, send any email for Ed to unitycharleston@msn.com for now.
Sometimes the scriptures are so frustrating or even worse, and sometimes they are enlightening. A helpful thing to do to help make sense of confusing or aggravating passages from the Bible is to look at them as translated from the Aramaic, which is what Jesus spoke. No one can say for sure that ANY translation is perfect or exactly what Jesus said, including the Aramaic. Our best current knowledge is that the New Testament was originally written in koine Greek, not Aramaic. But there is a certain logic to reading the Bible from an Aramaic perspective.
Scripture often says, and Jesus too, to "pray in my name". In the name of Jesus, as if it had some magical quality. That may or may not be...to be honest, it never helped me but maybe it has for others. I respect those who pray that way...there's also the idea that praying that way puts faith into the prayer. So it's all good stuff.
But when we look at it from the Aramaic, "in my name", the Aramaic word "beshemi" means 'in my name" and it more infers in my method, my way, my system doing things. Jesus' way of praying, perhaps. THAT makes a lot more sense to me. What was his way? Praying from a place of pure consciousness. We'll talk more about that this Sunday, also re: a metaphysical and mystical take on the Lord's Prayer. Some of you love it, some of you really dislike it!
What do you think?
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