What’s Love Got to Do with It?

By Frances Bryant-Lowery

During the United Nation’s 62nd Commission on the Status of Women in New York City (or the Big Apple) this past March, each day’s activities began with an inspiring ecumenical worship service. Early each morning, delegates were invited to gather in the United Methodist Church’s Center for the United Nations to begin our long days with worship. It was a wonderful way to begin the day. During one of our morning gatherings, I was so moved by the following version of the Lord’s Prayer, I not only obtained a copy for my personal use but also included it when I facilitated my adult Sunday School class upon returning to Atlanta. Taken from the New Zealand Prayer Book, I now share it with you.

LORD’S PRAYER

New Zealand Prayer Book

 

Eternal Spirit,

Earth-maker, Pain-bearer, Life-giver,

Source of all that is and that shall be,

Father and Mother of us all,

Loving God, in whom is heaven:

The hallowing of your name echo through the universe!

The way of your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!

Your heavenly will be done by all created beings!

Your commonwealth of peace and freedom

sustain our hope and come on earth.

With the bread we need for today, feed us.

In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.

In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.

From trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

For you reign in the glory of the power that is love,

now and for ever. Amen.

 

Because God reigns “in the glory of the power that is love,” we find that this prayer speaks directly to the impact of attitudes and behaviors of so many around the world. Therefore, love has everything to do with how we live and interact with others. In Brenda Salter MacNeil’s book Road Map to Reconciliation: Moving Communities into Unity, Wholeness, and Justice, Dr. Cornel West is quoted as saying, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been quoted as saying, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” As we look at the United Nations Committee on the Status of Women, the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Goals, as well as our own interactions and/or behaviors, would you agree that love is the universal answer?

Rev. Dr. Frances Bryant-Lowery serves as Coordinator for Mission with Women and Girls in American Baptist Women’s Ministries.