Lead Us Not Into Temptation

I was praying the Lord’s Prayer today much more slowly than usual, stopping to reflect on every phrase for several minutes. It’s a kind of lectio divina I like to do now and then with texts I know by heart and tend to rattle off too fast and with less attention than they deserve.
When I paused at “lead us not into temptation,” I said to myself, “WHAT?” For the first time it hit me: according to the traditional translation, Jesus taught us to ask God to refrain from leading us into temptation. What a weird theological statement. It’s not, “Keep us out of self-inflicted trouble,” or “Lead us away from tempting ourselves” but “Lead us not into temptation,” as though God is some Cosmic Scary Stranger who’s just waiting around the corner, rubbing His hands and offering us candy. “C’mere little girl,” He growls. […]