One of the most provocative prayers in the Christian tradition comes from Meister Ekchart:

“I pray God, rid me of God.”

There are layers of interpretation.

Let me share just three below: 

3) I pray to God to rid me of “g”od. Free me of my false understandings of God!

2) I pray to God to rid me of “G”od. Conceptual understandings that are made of mind & are less than God’s reality.

And my favorite…

1) I pray to Godhead to rid me of God. Godhead, for Meister Eckhart, was the “God beyond God.”

For Meister Eckhart, God has both a known reality and an unknowable reality

Metaphorically, if God is the moon, shining its face on us to see, then the Godhead is the dark side of the moon. Dark – unknown, unseen, unfamiliar. Until you welcome the darkness. 

The invitation is to hold our “ideas/beliefs/images” about God with open hands. No clinging.

God isn’t a belief to be held in the mind but a Reality to participate with, in and as. So enjoy the Divine Dance!

 I pray to God, to rid me of God.

Amen?