Whose Kingdom

During Advent, I read Preparing for Christmas: Daily Meditations for Advent by Richard Rohr.  One of the meditation contains the sentence, "When people say piously, 'Thy kingdom come' out of one side of their mouth, they need also to say, 'My kingdom go!' out of the other side.  The kingdom of God supersedes and far surpasses all kingdoms of self and society or personal reward."

This sentence struck me because the day before I was asked to pray at the beginning of a Zoom meeting.  It was an extemporaneous prayer - and I'm not sure if this will make sense or not - but because I had not prepared for it, it was a prayer that I journeyed through while I was praying it.  Sometimes those go well, and sometimes they feel clunky and cliched.  This prayer journeyed to an ending of "may we do all of this for your glory and that your kingdom may come."  That's not a phrase I often use, so it was surprising to me that it was how I ended the prayer.

I think the idea that saying "my kingdom go" is why saying - if you really mean it - "thy kingdom come" is frightening.  It means losing control.  It means letting go of control, intentionally.  Do we have trust issues with God?

I taught a CLM class earlier this week.  One of our topics was discernment, and I share this quote with the class:

"St. Ignatius of Loyola notes that sin is unwillingness to trust that what God wants is our deepest happiness.  Until I am absolutely convinced of this, I will do everything I can to keep my hands on the controls of my life, because I think I know better than God what I need for my fulfillment” David Benner 

Do we trust God? Do we trust God more than we trust ourselves so that we can, without fear, let go of control, and say, "My kingdom go."