Dear Family and Friends:
When last I posted, I referred to Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass and the tale of the Jabberwocky contained therein. The proud father welcomed his victorious son with exclamations of joy as he "chortled." That term has been in my family's vocabulary since I was a child, long enough for me to wonder if it was extant at the time of Carroll's use of it. Today I looked up the term "chortle" in my Webster's Dictionary and learned that Carroll invented it; Webster defines it as a joyful contraction of a of a snort and a chuckle, expressing great delight.
So what's the connection with prayer?
A very dear friend and a sincere Christian recently shyly expressed interest in learning to pray. I expressed sympathy with him as I had once been an very reluctant pray-er. Having been raised an Episcopalian, I was always more comfortable reading prayers to God than I was in speaking with Him.
That is, until I had a very dramatic and freeing encounter with Jesus which has had me chuckling ever since. But, that is a story for another time. The result, however, is that, unless I am reading a formalized prayer or collect, I can't seem to help chortling before I ever utter a word of prayer! It seems to be in response to the knowledge and assurance that my Father awaits me with open arms, uttering ejaculations of joy and delight, chortling all the while, "Come to my arms, my beamish boy!" He welcomes my communication attempts at any level of utterance, with or without formal words like "vouchsafe," "inestimable," and "miserable sinners," etc. Callou! Callay!
So, I delight in the opportunity to "teach us to pray," for as Jesus was to quickly demonstrate in his response to his disciple's request, you begin with expressing relationship...."Our Father." Not "Our Judge," or "Our stern old Grandfather." The real key to prayer is to first recognize the loving, approachable nature of our Heavenly Father, who delights in our relationship with Him. So, to teach anyone to pray is to first teach them the intimate nature of God.
Unfortunately, for many, the thought of going to father, is like being told to report to the Principal's office. If that's the case, great healing is required, which is something also for another opportunity. In the meantime, use the illustration of the mythical Jabberwocky's slaying, and the joy of the receptive father, to prompt you as you approach your welcoming father.
Chortle
Dick
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