The Seventh Petition

But free us from what holds us back, give us power to live as you intended and created us to live.  Ameyn

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

In the time this prayer originated Ameyn was a solemn oath that sealed agreements and guaranteed the honoring of promises made. The image of the seventh petition “Kingdom” is a batik painting picturing a grove of trees, strongly rooted in the earth, yet dancing in the wind with the joy of being. I learned from a TED talk by Suzanne Simard that a stand of trees communicates by their massive root systems. The trees in “Kingdom” are connecting both what is below and what is above as they communicate with each other.

The grove is placed in a circle forming a mandala. Mandala, a Sanskrit word meaning circle, is an important symbol in many world religions. Religious and non-religious disciplines alike believe mandalas are meant to hold spiritual or psychological significance. At the corners of “Kingdom”are pockets honoring the four directions; north, south, east, and west. Many Native American peoples use the mandala form in medicine wheels, or sacred hoops. These circular forms often embody and honor the four directions. The directions can symbolize stages of life, seasons of the year, elements of nature, or aspects of life.