do<\/em> we mean when we use such language? Are we asking for divine intervention to keep the breadmakers and delivery truck drivers from going on strike? That by the time we get to the supermarket, they won\u2019t be out of Wonder brand and force us to settle for a no-frills variety that tears when you try to spread peanut butter on it?<\/p>\nJeffrey Gibson read a paper at a recent SBL conference that was very helpful in addressing this topic. He suggests that the \u2018petition\u2019 was in fact an expression of thankfulness for what is provided, rather than a request for what is not, along the lines of the similar phrase in the Jewish Scriptures. This would fit well with the neighboring \u2018petitions\u2019 which also imply aligning oneself with the divine will, more than asking for a direct intervention. After all, how is God\u2019s name hallowed, if not when those who bear it act uprightly (see Ezekiel 36:22-23)? What does Matthew say it means for God\u2019s kingdom to come? That God\u2019s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. So in a similar way, as Maurice Wiles also suggests, to pray for daily bread is, for us at least, an expression of gratitude for what we have, and a recognition that others who pray this prayer will go without unless we work for justice on a global scale in our world.<\/p>\n
Thinking about the reference to bread in the Lord\u2019s Prayer is helpful in reflecting on ideas like divine action more generally. On my way back from a conference in Romania, I missed a connection, which had the pleasant effect of leaving me with nothing to do but wander around New York City with my family. I would not claim, however thankful I might be for the opportunity, that this was divine providence. To do so would be to claim that God has caused the chaos that currently dominates JFK airport, and was responsible for planes not being able to get to their gates after landing, and so on. I doubt we were the only ones who missed connections that day \u2013 was everyone to whom such things happened supposed<\/em> to get somewhere late? To envisage this degree of divine micromanagement would seem to leave no room for free will, but more than that, it is a troubling impression one gives of God if one claims that God made everyone on a particular plane late, just so as to benefit one or even a small handful of individuals. I have long been troubled by those who proclaim God\u2019s goodness when they alone survive an accident or remain healthy, implying (although never explicitly asserting) God\u2019s badness<\/em> to those around them.<\/p>\nBecause of our knowledge of the causal nexus of explanations connected to events in our lives and our universe, if we use traditional religious language, it often leads us to use two ways of speaking about the same events. Was it God\u2019s time to take an individual home, or was it a result of diet and lack of exercise over the course of a lifetime? Or can it be both? As we seek to express traditional faith in a scientific worldview, it is important to think about these questions.<\/p>\n
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. I presume most of us do not expect God to shower manna from the skies in any literal sense. But what do<\/em> we mean when we use such language? Are we asking for divine intervention to keep the breadmakers and delivery truck drivers from going on strike? That by the time we get to the supermarket, they won\u2019t be out of Wonder brand and force us to settle for a no-frills variety that tears when you try to spread peanut butter on it?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7622297540113836091-8158275224983908075?l=exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com\")
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