A Message from Pastor Andrea Chaumont

Hello MBPPC,

C.S. Lewis famously said: 

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that trains our desires, in other words it forms us as humans to expand our desires beyond what Lewis says we “fool around with” (drink, sex, ambition). I could add a few more things to the list: acclaim, money, security, recognition, etc. These aren’t necessarily bad things, in fact, they are good; we need money, and security (see Maslow’s hierarchy of needs), recognition and to some degree ambition, but when the good things become ultimate things we are on the path to small living. 

What Jesus offers us in the Lord’s Prayer is a way back to our humanity and a way forward towards expansive living, where our true joy lies. This week we continue to look at God’s name and specifically the prayer “hallowed be thy name.” Church father St. Augustine spoke of hallowing God’s name differently in his concept of rightly ordered loves. In the City of Glory he says:

“These are Thy gifts; they are good, for thou in thy goodness has made them. Nothing in them is from us, save for sin when, neglectful of order, we fix our love on the creature, instead of on thee the Creator (XV.22)”

As we pray “Our Father, Hallowed by Thy Name” our eyes turn back to our Creator, who made us out of joy and for the joy of being together on holiday at the sea.

Blessings,

Pastor Andrea

P.S. A reminder of my schedule:

I would love to spend time with and get to know each and every one of you! I live in North Seattle and will be working a hybrid work schedule. My in person office days are Tuesday and Wednesday. If you have time during the day, please stop by to say hello any time from 10am - 2:30pm on Tuesday or Wednesday (we have a weekly staff meeting Tuesday from 10:30-11:30). I work from home Monday and Thursday, but I am available by e-mail, phone, or Zoom. For non urgent matters, please try to reach me in the first part of the day 9am - 3:45 pm as I set my phone down to be with my kids around 4pm. My days off are Friday and Saturday. My Google number is 306-362-5274. 

Blessings,

Pastor Andrea