Who Art in Heaven

This line seems a little unnecessary, doesn't it? I mean, where else would we expect God to be? It's like saying to your friend Mary Phelps, Hey, Mary Phelps, who is from Burbank, how are you? There's a Saturday Night Live sketch in there somewhere. Thanks very much, dear, but I know where I'm from.

I think maybe the point of the clause is to indicate God's authority. In ancient times one's status as a god was always connected to a seat of power. If you were god, generally you sat up on some mountaintop -- so Moses meets the Lord on Mt. Sinai, or Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and is transfigured on one, too.

Saying that God is in Heaven is to say he is seated on the highest, the holiest and the best place of all. He ain't just another one of them posers chillin' on Pike's Peak and demanding obeisance. He's in heaven, yo. That is to say, he is THE God. And, given what we believe of Heaven, a good God, too.

Having him as a father -- well, it's pretty sweet.