Covenant Prayer

[yrieithydd]

It might be an odd time of year to be doing so, but for various reasons, we ended up comparing the proper words to the Covenant Prayer and the dumbed down ones on Easter Day.

Given I like tables atm, here they are side by side.

I am no longer my own but yours.	I am no longer my own but yours.
Put me to what you will,	Your will, not mine be done in all things
rank me with whom you will;	where you may place me,
put me to doing, put me to suffering;	in all that I do and in all that I may endure;
let me be employed for you or laid aside for you,	when there is work for me and when there is none;
	When I am troubled and when I am at peace.
	Your will be done
exalted for you or brought low for you;	when I am valued and when I am disregarded;
let me be full, let me be empty,	when I find fulfilment and when it is lacking
let me have all things, let me have nothing;	when I have all things, and when I have nothing.
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things	I willingly offer all I have and am
to your pleasure and disposal	to serve you, as and where you choose
And now, glorious and blessèd God,	Glorious and blessèd God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,	Father, Son and Holy Spirit
you are mine and I am yours.	you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.	May it be so for ever.
And the covenant now made on earth,	Let this covenant now made on earth
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.	be fulfilled in heaven . Amen

Firstly, the modern one is far to wordy and so loses the poetry of the original. So be it versus May it be so for ever..

Secondly, the emphasis of the modern one is a lot more on me. I think because I is in the subject rather than the object. I retain more control in the modern one; I willingly offer rather than I freely and wholeheartedly yield. I am in states (When I have) rather than being put there (Let me be). This is particularly noticeable with Let me be laid aside for you which is utterly different to When there is none (work that is). Being laid aside is a change of state; sometimes there will be work, but I am not the person to do it. It would satisfy my need to be needed to stay involved in the situation, but for the person in trouble would be better helped without me there. Thus I have to step back.

Thirdly, ratified is not the same as fulfilled. Yes, it is a technical term, but a moderately common one (what with Maastricht and Kyoto).

Unfortunately, most churches (IME) seem to be using the dumbed down words.*

*They are both modern language in that the original thous, thees, thys and thines have gone.

Comments

[cathedral-life.livejournal.com]

There's a guy called something like Peter Toon (who seems to be an expert prayer book bod) who has written a book about the significance of the abandonment of "Thees, Thys and Thous" and another, which is effectively a critique of Common Worship. I find some of what he writes to be slightly pedantic, but I'm beginning to wonder whether the abandonment of the older terms of reference for God may actually have more significance than I would once have attributed them. I suspect that you'd like the first book (although I've not yet read it), which is called "Neither Archaic Nor Obsolete" (the second book, which I've got, has a chapter based on the first book).