The modern world is a “disenchanted” world. Most people, religious or not, do not walk around expecting supernatural things to happen. In this world, really believing in Christianity is… weird! It’s weird to believe prayer is a real conversation with a real God, that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi born 2000+ years ago is really the God of the universe who made everything and deserves our worship. It sounds like a fantasy. It sounds… enchanted! The modern world wants God out of our ordinary daily life. The goal is to be autonomous individuals carrying out our own lives, with any God or gods very far away, distant, unknowable.
The impact of this way of thinking is consumerism - we buy the next thing, do the next thing, all to feel some kind of meaning in our lives. Meanwhile, the world seems to be spinning out of control. We have all this technology but we haven’t solved the old problems. The disenchanted world is a disappointing world. Modern life doesn’t produce the happiness and meaning we expected. In contrast, the invitation of the Gospel is to live in a re-enchanted world: to live in a world where God is not far away and we are not in total control of our lives. We are called to join into something bigger than ourselves.
The Gospel invites us into the Strange New World of the Bible - where God is all over the place! He is calling people, he’s talking, moving, saving, doing. The Bible tells us to “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The story of the Gospel can rework our vision of life so we see God all around us every day. Learn how to think the Gospel and not the modern disenchanted story of the world that we’ve been sold. God is active and real, steering and moving history - and we get to play a part in it. Most of our time is spent in disenchanted spaces that teach and form us to live like disenchanted people. What we need is the renewal of our mind, so that we can see Creation as it is - soaked with purpose. How do we live in the enchanted world?
The key is found in something ancient - the Lord’s Prayer. God’s reality, God’s kingdom, God’s will - on earth as it is in heaven. Relying on God daily for our needs and trusting God to forgive us our lack and our wrongdoing - even as we trust Him enough to forgive the people around us. Freedom from the temptation of living like the world lives. Having confidence in God even in the face of evil. God’s kingdom, God’s power, and God’s glory become a visible reality in our world. The prayer teaches us that life does not begin with you and me but with our Creator. Not me, me, me, but Our Father. When the Lord’s Prayer sinks into your bones, then daily life begins with God and is filled with the Holy Spirit. The more life is oriented around something bigger than ourselves, the more peace and joy freedom we have, and the more we become who God made us to be. It’s like a passport back into a world thoroughly enchanted with the presence of God - the world Jesus is living in.