Dear
God, what happens in and under the name of “God,” I do not know
how to pray. One would think I would know how to do this by now, but
I am afraid I do not. I am afraid the vocabulary and eloquence to
address the Divine eludes me. I am afraid I lack the ability to
properly respond to the insistent call of God. So I begin this
prayer with the humiliating proclamation that I do not know how to
pray.
Dear
God, I agree with Jack Caputo and his accomplice Meister Eckhart when
I pray that, dear God, rid us of God.
Dear
God, rid us of the God of this selfish and entitled religion. Rid us
of the God whose omnipotence is so impotent that he falters, flails,
and throws an infantile tantrum at the slightest objection or protest
to his religion's status quo. Rid us of the God whose followers
behave the same way.
Dear
God, rid us of the God of Red Cup Christians, so insecure in their
faith that they need and demand capitalist corporations to affirm and
confirm their beliefs. Rid us of the God that has perverted Jesus'
teachings to sell our possessions and give our money to the poor into
a right to waste that money on overpriced and superfluous First World
extravagances.
God
rid us of the God of equal measures, balances and ledgers,
retributive justice, and the economics of salvation that stand in
opposition of the unconditional impossible that is love, hope, and
the gift.
Rid
us of the God of the status quo. Rid me of the God that says my
characteristics just happen to be normative and anything otherwise is
deviant. God rid us of the God that separates and condemns the
oppressed, the forsaken, and the lost. Rid me of the God that
conveniently hates all the things that I hate.
Rid
me of a God that hates me as much and as frequently as he loves me.
Rid me of a God that I am terrified of and terrified to love. For
what would it say of me to love such a God?
Dear
God, rid me of the God that expects perfect prayers, wondrous
worship, and exotic exaltation. Rid me of the God that cares if I
don't know how to pray. God, rid us of all other Gods and gods that
we have set up to take your place, for we find them more agreeable
than you and your unconditional, ridiculous, obscene, and stupid love
for the other.
Finally,
dear God, rid me of the God of intellectual hubris. Rid me of the
God that allows me to speak in such accusative, dismissive, and
derogatory language. Rid me of the God that makes me certain of my
uncertainty and arrogant in my theology.
Dear
God, this is my prayer, which I do not know how to pray.
Dear
God, rid us of God.
