It's rare that I get quite so emotional as I did with the attached video. This may have to do with visiting this year so many American civil war battlefields near my northern Virginia location.

The song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" uses an 1863 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Longfellow was a Harvard professor who had toured Europe apparently to learn to translate eight languages. He left academe, becoming a kind of versatile, lyrics-slinging poet/rockstar. Here was a man who had lost first wife Mary to miscarriage and second wife Frances to a fire that scarred his own face and body.

Here was a dedicated abolitionist and pacifist whose son joined the Union Army. Said son took a bullet to the spine, and now in December 1863 was back home being nursed to health by his father.  Here was a man who on December 25, 1863 wrote the following verses mixing pain and resolve.

1.  I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

2.  And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

3.  Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

[Verses 4 & 5 are omitted from most recent presentations.]

4. Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

5.  It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

6.  And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

7.  Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.

Where I stood was mud the day before. Now that farm road was frozen hard as iron. I pondered:
 
“The TV bosses let a kid quote the Bible for a minute. Maybe there's hope for this world!”

This nostalgic moment is easy for me to pinpoint. I was waiting for the school bus at 7:45 a.m., Friday, December 10, 1965. Many others also were reflecting on the previous evening’s premiere of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Over the background brain jazz of “Christmastime is Here” and “Linus and Lucy”,  I reconsidered the words of Linus and Luke: “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields…”. 

Commercials urging “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should” and “See the USA in your Chevrolet” had given way to "Glory to God in the highest!" Scary scenes from Selma and Viet Nam were for a while displaced by "Peace on earth, good will to men.” And by a blue blanket.

Most of the Peanuts kids—kids like me—knew well the Christmas biz. As Lucy confided, “We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket! It's run by a big eastern syndicate you know!” She urged, “Get the biggest aluminum tree you can find, Charlie Brown, maybe painted pink!”

For me, the compelling character in Peanuts was not Charlie Brown, though I felt his pain. Snoopy was more flamboyant than anyone I knew.  I was a Linus fan. Later I learned that Linus was not always the brave evangelist who could calmly summon, “Lights, please.”  Linus had been forgetful, anxious, and odd. For example, rewind to December 21, 1958.

A running gag especially in December was that Linus had stage fright. Lucy continued to encourage Linus in her persuasive way.

I appreciate Linus' compassion. The other kids relentlessly dismiss and ridicule Charlie Brown. Linus is to Charlie a merciful, supportive, frank, and insightful friend.

Linus is unembarrassed about his security blanket.  In A Charley Brown Christmas, this versatile blanket serves as tow rope, slingshot, head covering, hiding place, and potentially a sport coat. Concerning Linus' attachment to his blanket, in 2015 Jason Soroski published a profound observation now echoed at over fifty websites:

There is a second blanket drop! Linus selflessly gives his prized blanket to restore the little limp Christmas tree. What do you think becomes of the blanket?

Walk with me in the starry night with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, and all others who would go. We will purpose our security for kindness.  We will trade cold tinsel for warm treasure. 

Footnote 1:  Linus steps up.

   1952 ... 1953 ... 1954 ... 1955 ... 1956 ... 1957 ... 1958
    ... 1959 ... 1960 ... 1961 ... 1962 ... 1963 ... 1964 ... 1965
       ... “Every now and then I say the right thing”

Footnote 2:  Linus steps back.
   Other Peanuts characters took much of Linus' role as sage and poet, even slinging a T.S. Eliot reference in one of the following Christmas strips.

  "Begat" ... "House of Bread" ... "Abiding" ...  "Attention" ... "I hate shopping" ...
     "Warned in a Dream" ... "Calling Bird" ...
         "Hark, Harold Angel" ... "Hockey Stick!" ...
            "Joe Handel" ... "Gabriel" ...
               "Sheep" ... "Moo! Whatever!"

Footnote 3: More Peanuts.

   Peanuts for Christ ...
       Peanuts Wiki on A Charlie Brown Christmas ...
            Charles Schulz' Spiritual Walk

Christmas is almost here!

The hustle, bustle, and general good cheer of the season can leave me empty of the reason that I celebrate Christmas in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the glitz, glitter, gifts, and all things Christmas, but I can easily forget that this winter holiday is bigger than red, green, and gold. It’s about the coming of Jesus to earth as a baby. The Messiah. The bringer of hope and good news.

This is why I embraced the season of Advent years ago. Advent allows me to focus on what is important during the Christmas season. I like the way BibleProject.com put the big idea of Advent, it’s a time when “communities remember and celebrate the arrival of Jesus and join together in the hope of his ultimate return.”

Hope  Peace  Joy  Love

Each week of Advent has a theme. I haven’t traditionally been good about following the theme. I’ve let life get in the way. But this year, I am looking forward to exploring the theme together with you. In the first two weeks, our focus is remembrance and anticipation of Christ's return.

The first week of Advent focuses on Hope. I’ll post some scriptures for us to reflect on. Link a video or two. And maybe even a worship song to round out the week. At home during meals, I will light the first candle of my Advent wreath which has a place of honor on my table.

The second week is Peace. I will again post some supporting items and Bible readings that will support the theme of peace. I will light the first and second candles on the advent wreath.

Week three we shift our focus to remembering Christ’s first coming. The Joy that comes with a new beginning. The joy of the shepherds. The joy we have in knowing Christ and accepting His gift of salvation. I will be lighting the first, second, and third candles of the Advent wreath.

In the last week of Advent leading up to Christmas day, the theme is Love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave…” This week I want to focus on God’s love for us through Scripture, song, and reflection. I will be lighting all four candles on the Advent Wreath.
I will light the Christ candle on Christmas Day in the middle of my Advent wreath. I usually have a big pillar candle there and can let it burn most of the day reminding me that the light of the world was born this day.

Merry Christmas friend. I look forward to sharing this journey through Advent with you.

P.S.
​
I love how the Advent candles end up at different heights in a spiral. The Fibonacci spiral wrapping around the center Christ candle in my advent wreath on my dining room table brings me joy! The perfection of a spiral points to the perfection of Christ’s birth and life, perfectly balanced and eternal.

In the aftermath of the election I’ve seen a series of posts, videos and other content actively displaying a sense of despair and deeply felt emotional response. In response to this, I’ve seen a fair amount of mocking snark, and condescension.

It seems like a lot of this engagement is only separating people further in a landscape that is already deeply divided.

My goal here isn’t to preach or fix, nor is it to chide or correct, but only to offer thoughts on possible paths forward. The reality is we all experience disappointment in big ways and small, and if that isn’t you this week, it will be you soon enough. So here we go, use if useful!

How to Find Hope in Disappointment:

1) Focus on What You Can Control

I love the band Switchfoot, not just for their incredible talent and sonic, but for the way they turn the problems of their songs back to local responsibility. They almost always frame an issue we all would agree is an issue, then they hold up a mirror and address themselves as the real problem and changing themselves as the way to move forward. It’s an interesting, surprising and for my money, healthy approach.

Are you in control of elections? Political parties? Swing vote on any big issue of the day? Yeah, me either. But just because you don’t hold levers of power doesn’t mean you can’t do something deeply meaningful. If you have the means, adjust your budget to be generous for the cause(s) you care about. If you don’t, look to give in other ways. Your favorite organization would likely benefit greatly from your expertise or simple hours as a volunteer.

Do something good! It’s an incredible strategy for re-directing focus on how bad “they” are to acting in a healthy and helpful spirit. Even if “they” are quite bad, we’re not in control of “them” - but we are in control of us upgrading our personal impact in a good way. My mirror agrees that I can do better.

2) Turn Disappointment into Opportunity
​
I remember my high school baseball team with incredible fondness. What a great group of talented guys. They taught me lessons that will shape me forever.

One thing in particular was our beautiful response to striking out. I don’t remember who started this, but instead of cursing and throwing a helmet in disappointment, we started running back to the dugout and giving a detailed description of the pitch that got us. 

The team would crowd around for a detailed scouting report in real time. 

The result? 

Around the 4th inning or so, our collective intel allowed us to clobber the poor guy on the mound. Even the strike outs became a handy tool that helped us win.

So let your disappointments take you to school. Learn. What can you do better? The things that hit us badly, can improve us, and propel us in positive directions if we engage in a certain way.

A while ago, I reported how after knee surgery I had trouble walking down stairs. My physical therapy consisted mostly of stretches performed several times  per day. I realized from these that I could improve a skill not just by repeating the process (like walking down stairs a lot), but also by preparation (like quadriceps stretches and leg lifts while on my back or leaning on a tree).  I picked prayer as a discipline to improve. A prayer stretch would be something that is not prayer that improves prayer.

Humility was my first choice for a prayer stretch. Why? That's the best way to pray for the first time: “God, have mercy on me a sinner.” Subsequently: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” (Rick Warren). “If you meet a really humble man, ... probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.... He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.” (C.S. Lewis)  That kind of humility helped my frequency of prayer and emotional transparency before God. It continues to be a preparation for prayer. That kind of humility certainly helps relationships!

Likewise, stretches of Forgiveness and Thankfulness have become part of my prelude to prayer.

A little thought will convince you that no virtue stands alone. Virtues support other virtues.

Recently I have been reviewing the Lord's Prayer. The line "your will be done" is a commitment first to learn what God wants; and then to make it so, ideally with other people. 

Though narrower in scope, I find the line, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" to be the most challenging in the Lord's Prayer.  Isn't this a contract? Immediately after the Lord's Prayer Jesus underscores the logical penalty: "If you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  This same ominous warning is repeated to close the story of the unjust servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

Something to consider:  How does the Lord's Prayer differ from my prayers? What do my prayers add? And especially, what in the Lord's Prayer do my prayers omit?

1. The first half of the Lord's Prayer is about what God wants. Is mine?
2. Are these pronouns in the Lord's Prayer?  I, my, me. As was and remains the custom of formal Jewish prayers it is "Our Father", "Give us", "Forgive us", "As we forgive", "Lead us", "Deliver us". Even when you are in your closet, the Lord's prayer is about community.
3. Does the Lord's Prayer mention the sick, family, friends, enemies, leaders, the unsaved, or other groups?
4. Does the Lord's prayer consider life beyond today?
5. Does the Lord's prayer end, "In Jesus' Name, amen" ??
6. Does my prayer commit me to anything, like doing God's will, forwarding his kingdom, forgiving people, or following his lead?

Don't panic. Probably all points in your prayer are modeled by other outstanding Biblical prayers and principles. Here is a list. I suspect what Jesus selected to include in this model prayer are God's priorities that his followers tend then and his followers now tend to omit, and should add to daily prayers.

My knee is better, my prayers are better. I need to work on, among other things, forgiveness.  Ha, forgiveness is easy, except when it involves people. Forgiving a Christian brother or sister can involve confrontation and an escalation procedure, per Matthew 18. The hope in confrontation is to stimulate repentance. But what if the offender is not known? How do I handle a hit-and-run? Do I mutter, "I forgive whoever it was scratched my car--the scabiferous rat." Do I stew forever?  How about when I'm afflicted by a group of disagreeable people, a greedy corporation, a whole other nation that has missiles pointed at me? 

Forgiveness takes both humility and confidence. The strength to forgive doesn't come easy. Here I offer a batch of "forgiveness stretches". Some of these simply broaden my perspective and get above the fog of resentment.

Five Stretches for Better Forgiveness

Forgiveness means “canceling a debt”.

Forgiveness does not mean:

• that the offense was insignificant;
• that confrontation is unnecessary;
• that the offender need not: apologize, repent, turn around, and do better;
• that all consequences are erased even if everyone desires that.

Stretch #1: Love!

• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matthew 5:44
• “Without love… I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13
• “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.” 1 John 4
• “Love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4

Love: Have compassion. Do kindness.
Inasmuch as I practice unconditional compassion and kindness, then decisions about forgiveness are not complicated. Forgiveness can be reflexive rather than calculated.

 Stretch #2: Discern!

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment…” Philippians 1:9-11

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…” James 1

Stretch #3: Rejoice!

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians chapter 4

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew chapter 5

“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison,
and then waiting around for the rat to die.”
- author Anne Lamott

“While physical training has some value,
training in holy living
is useful for everything.

It has promise for this life now
and the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4


What are your Spiritual Stretches?

If you want to see a train wreck in church, ask everyone to pray the “Lord’s Prayer” together from memory. English-speaking crowds start in mumbled confusion:

• “Our Father, which art in heaven, hallow-ed be thy name…”
• “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…”
• “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”
• “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy…”

 
You say: just read the words from a screen or from paper. Ah, but a child will pipe up, “Mommy says we pray with our eyes closed!” The elderly may sigh, “That’s not the way I learned it.”
 
After that rocky start and a few more blips, Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Methodists saying “Our Father” reach this combo request and commitment:

• “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us.”

Other Christians are terse:

• “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

 
If everyone can regroup to end the prayer, many finish abruptly:

• “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” 
  

But the King James Version crowd continues onward for a big finish, a magnificent and rousing doxology:

• “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen!”

Even if we all read from a projected image, you know that down the street someone is reading different words. This train wreck may not happen Sunday morning, but is pretty much guaranteed for Christian weddings and funerals. The confusion isn't perceived as robust diversity. It doesn't help the perceived integrity of this model prayer, of the Bible, and Christian unity. 

Good news: the oldest manuscripts of the Lord’s Prayer are consistent, word-by-word. I'll demonstrate this in a minute. More good news: Instead of digging like Indiana Jones or traveling to distant museums or monasteries, you can access images of these foundational documents online.  Moreover, we'll demonstrate that traditions—not Bibles, not translations—are the primary cause of these word collisions.

This evidence requires some technical trekking. Please consider these encouragements to keep on praying, keep on praying:

“If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.”

“In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words.”

(If you are reading this on a phone, you might want to rotate to landscape mode.)
 
THE LORD’S PRAYER IN STEREO

This comparison suggests that Jesus adapted prayers to the situation—even this model prayer.  I have highlighted differences in order to reconcile them. Please, for a minute, focus on the features in common, like "Father" and "hallowed be your name". I suggest that these are essentials. Then I consider other kinds of difference: What praise, requests, and commitments in the "Our Father" tend to be in my prayers? Yay me. Which features am I missing on my prayers? Oops. What do I add that is not here? Hmm...

But having spotlighted them, I confidently propose to here clear up those translation collisions, starting with "Forgive us our debts" versus "Forgive us our trespasses". Do these originate in the source manuscripts? Do different Bible translations to English account for these collisions?

As you'll see, the sources use just one Greek word for what gets translated as debts, trespasses, sins, etc. Here is a picture of that source word as penned around AD 350:

Pronounce that "oh-pheel-EH-mahtah". As in English, another form of the same word is used for "debtors", "those who trespass against us", etc.

As a visual aid, below is a someone feeling a tomato, er, tehmahtah. She also is paying her tehmahtah bill. Let's call this young lady,"Ophelia" to associate her with this mystery word OpheelEHmahtah in its various forms.

Following is a photo from what scholars consider the oldest manuscript of the whole New Testament. It is in the Greek language. (There are rather older manuscript fragments of individual parts of the Bible.) Featured here is the Lord's Prayer.  Highlighted toward the bottom are the two Ophelia words. Highlighted at the top and magnified below is a Greek word that transliterates as "PATER".  What do think PATER means in English?

Over on the right, look at the fourth line. It starts with a word "PONHROU" meaning "evil", as in "deliver us from evil", Matthew 6:13. The next word after that is "EAN" meaning "if" as in "if you forgive" beginning Matthew 6:14.  What is between? Nothing. This is where we expect, "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, amen." This expected praise doesn't show up in a source manuscript until 200 years later. We'll show that in a minute.

But first, here is a second source manuscript from AD 300-400, Codex Sinaiticus. It was found in Mount Sinai monastary and now resides in the British Museum in London. Apart from spelling abbreviations and respectful halos for "PATER" and heaven, Sinaiticus agrees with Vaticanus.

Wrapping our show and tell: 200 years after Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, here from the Smithsonian in Washington DC is Codex Washingtonianis. This third manuscript also has "PATER" and two "Ophelias" just where expected.  But there's more.

Do you see the "AMEN" in the largest highlighted section?

You might also spot ΔΥΝΆΜΕΙς , "power". The larger highlighted section translates to English as, "For yours is the power, the kingdom, and the glory, forever, amen."

Alas, Washingtoniatis usually is in a vault not on exhibit.  You can access images of these three source manuscripts and others at: ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/liste/.

For a third time we see those two "Ophelia" words. Other manuscripts will present the "Our Father" quite as we've seen here.  We have consistency. But what do these Ophelia words mean? "Debts" or "Trespasses" or what? To answer this, we consider how these words are used elsewhere in the Bible and other writings from that time.  Aha, Matthew 18 has eight Ophelias! Here is useful background info for Matthew 18:

How ought one repent? How do I apply the Torah, the laws Moses presented in the first five books of the Bible? How ought I respond to life's complicated challenges? Such applications quite occupied  Jewish thinkers, especially after Daniel's time. By the time of the Pharisees, the professors advised that offenders should publicly confess their fault and then request forgiveness by saying, “Please” three times. This they based on Genesis 50:17, where in Hebrew the brothers beg Joseph, “Please, please, please forgive us!”  The first two chapters of Amos also figure in.

The devout Jews identified additional opportunities and safeguards to deal with repentance, forgiveness, and restitution, Yom Kippur and prayer are among these. When I mess up, of course I should make things right with the victim, who is then obligated to forgive. I should also make things right with the Almighty, who in his steadfast love also forgives. But what about jerks who would exploit easy forgiveness?  The sages and later the Pharisees maintained that after a third forgiveness—nine pleases—the victim need not forgive. Indeed, the persistently abused should call in the authorities to investigate and deal with this forgiveness moocher.
 
Now meet sincere, impulsive, fisherman Peter. Peter is a follower of Jesus. Maybe Peter is thinking, “Jesus is big on forgiveness.  The Pharisees say to forgive three times. I bet Jesus wants us to forgive four times. Maybe five. Hmm... perhaps I can impress Jesus.”
 
THE CASE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT - MATTHEW CHAPTER 18 VERSE 21+

Then Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
 
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times; but seventy-seven times!”

“Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants:

But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed [ōpheilen] him a hundred denarii [about 20 bucks].

Seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe [opheileis]!’

So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him:
‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you!’

He refused and went and put his fellow servant in prison until he should pay the debt [opheilomenon].

When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed!

They went and reported to their master all that had taken place.

 


Then his master summoned him and said to him,

‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt [opheilomenon] because you pleaded with me.

And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’

And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt [opheilomenon].”

“So also my heavenly Father will do
to every one of you,

if you do not forgive your brother
from your heart.”

Minor point: The source manuscripts, whether early or late, in Matthew 18 use eight "Ophelia" words like OPHELHMATA, all for money owed. So, "forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors" accurately translates Matthew 6:12.

Two verses later in Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says,"forgive trespasses" [PARAPTOMATA]. This fine word in various forms is used in 15 other New Testament verses, and is translated trespasses, stumbling, transgressions, offenses, or wrongdoing. I conclude that whether we call them debts or trespasses or sins, Jesus wants us to forgive all kinds of faults!

Major, major point: Do I want God to forgive me? Then I must sincerely forgive!

Consider the following four statements of Jesus. How do they differ?

• “Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.” ("Our Father", Matthew 6:12)
• “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Jesus' own commentary on the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:14-15. Yes, here "trespasses" is a correct translation.)
  
• “And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Story of the unjust servant, Matthew 18:34-35)
• “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:25)

That was a trick question. In terms of content and application, there is no difference. Jesus is consistent. And scary. This is why this is called a hard saying of Jesus. 

Christian teachers will emphasize—as they should—that salvation is a free gift not earned by me. They will say that if I don't forgive when I should, then that's a sign that I was never saved, that I am a fake, that I have no roots, that I lack the fruit of the spirit called forbearance. Do I pray for my forgiveness when I remain unforgiving? I am a two-faced slimy hypocrite.   Mark says: before I continue on the train track of prayer, if I have not forgiven someone, I must pull the emergency brake! Then I should back up and fix my forgiveness. Then I can pray.  In this light, forgiving is more important than praying. If you have trouble forgiving, fix-it advice appears in other articles.

Before the story of the unforgiving servant, Jesus had given an escalation procedure for confronting another Christian: Matthew 18:15-20. Some Christians assert that I must follow that procedure and instances of it such as in Luke 7, Luke 15, & Acts 2. Suppose I press an offending party to repent. I escalate confrontations. If there is no repentance, then I ought to not forgive. So they say. Rather, the offender is to be shunned!  Even that exclusion is is an opportunity, an opportunity to reflect and repent. I previously pondered this sequence.

That hard approach noted, the Lord's Prayer does not require repentance before forgiveness.  Some other passages likewise simply do not think it essential to mention repentance before forgiveness.

I want to do what is right. Am I out of line, usurping God's ways if I reflexively forgive before repentance?  Say, someone steals my car or vandalizes it. Do I forgive the unknown offender who may never be found?  Or else do I stew forever? Or what if someone stabs me? Suppose I die before my murderer can repent. For not forgiving, am I not forgiven? Am I bound for hell?  Arghhh, I don't want to play this game. My solution is to let the unconditional law of love govern the practice of forgiveness. I will confront as opportunity, God's spirit, and wisdom permit. Before that, I am a reflexive forgiver. So sue me. I'll forgive you.

To conclude: no source manuscript uses "trespasses" in the Lord's Prayer. They all use Ophelia words that translate as "debt" and "debtors". Jesus does use "trespasses" in his subsequent commentary on the Lord's Prayer.

Of over 900 English translations only two Bibles have used "trespasses" in the Lord's Prayer. These are the 1546 Tyndale Matthew Bible and the 1833 Joseph Smith Latter Day Saints Inspired Version. Some translations and paraphrases aimed at kids and learners may use neither debts nor trespasses or sins, but instead, something like "wrongdoers".


No Catholic Bible uses "trespasses" in "Our Father"! None in English, none in Latin.

Why then do Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, and Lutherans say, "Forgive us our trespasses"?

“Trespasses” comes from traditional catechisms, traditional devotionals, and The Book of Common Prayer!

The devout learned "trespasses" as kids.
They teach "trespasses" to kids.
They pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" several times a day. If not perfunctory, that's a great practice.

Pope Francis in 2019 directed modification of "Our Father" in Bibles from "lead us not into temptation" into "do not let us fall into temptation".  This accords with James 1:13.  Maybe "trespasses" also will get gradual updates. But there's tremendous inertia in this tradition.

From this technical presentation, I hope you have gained appreciation for the veracity of the Bible and the labors of Bible translators.  I hope you've gained appreciation for the "Our Father" prayers Jesus taught. I hope you—as I—have come to recognize the debt we owe Jesus, that he himself forgave, paying with his own blood and righteousness. In other articles I have dealt and aim to deal with some emotional and spiritual choices involving prayer and forgiveness. 

Let us forgive. Then let us pray.