Bold and Brazen Articles

The first time I heard the introduction to the Lord’s Prayer “And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say” during the service, I was puzzled.  Is praying bold?  My Catholic friends talk about being called “bold and brazen articles” by the nuns and ordered, “Present your hand,” which the nun then hit with a ruler.  Bold was wearing short or tight skirts and calling boys.  Bold was prank calling anyone.  Bold was talking back to your parents or teachers.  Bold was kind of cool, even if, like me, you weren’t bold enough to be bold.

(Don’t worry, this is not going to turn into one of those annoying rants about much better the boomers were raised.  I don’t think it’s true, and anyway, those days are over.)

One place you certainly weren’t supposed to be bold was church; you sat quietly and prayed silently.  And if you asked for something, you apologized first for asking.

We didn’t have problems asking our parents for things (better known as Stuff, as in “You have enough Stuff.” or “Get your Stuff out of here.”): toys, bikes, trips to the mall or Disneyworld, and later clothes, money, and cars.  We didn’t have problems asking repeatedly, or even without ceasing.   Our parents would get tired of this, but it still didn’t stop us.  They’d already said no, so how much could it hurt to keep asking?  Maybe we’d catch them in a weak moment if we’d worn them out enough.

One of the most memorable things I’ve taken away from a sermon was being told to ask boldly, not in a weeny-whiney voice, “Please God, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind . . .” I changed my way of asking for things.  I don’t know if I’ve had more prayers answered since then;  I didn’t think I’d be writing about it, so I didn’t keep track.  But I feel better about asking.

If we are going to be bold about asking for things, maybe it will lead us to be bold in other things.  We can pray for improvements and we can be bold enough to try to do something about them.  And we can pray for the boldness to do it.  (Of course sometimes all we can do is pray.  But prayer itself, as I have learned, is a bold act.)

When was the last time you did something bold?  Did you give money to a beggar when you were with a disapproving friend?  Cheer when you heard another state is allowing gay marriage?  Work as a volunteer in a political campaign, maybe even knock on doors?  Say that Pope Francis has come a long way, but he still has a long way to go?

And, lest I sound too goody-goody, occasionally, let’s be bold in asking for Stuff.