Fear of the Lord and Bratty Kids and the New Translation

It is a holiday, so as a consequence of my parents' apparent great fondness for each other, and the resultant descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore, (we have NOT taken possession of the gates of our enemies as of yet; but I digress,) I have been around, oh, a GAZILLION different children, products of a greater range of parenting skills, and parenting philosophies as well, than usual.

And the extreme unpleasantness of having to spend time with a certain seven-year-old, (who is the primary decision maker in his family of five, it seems,) and subsequent reflection on the fact that said child does not, as a result of his parents and siblings deference to him, know what is the appropriate behavior for him to display and expectation for him to have, as a child, threw something into relief me.

Our relationship with the Father is a bit askew.

And I sometimes wonder if it's because we think of it as a relationship.
To me, relationships are about compromise; trying to change, be better because of and for each other; give and take?

That is not what we want of God! (Dang good thing, because we're not gonna get it, huh? ya know, because he's. um... unchanging?)
Or IS it what some people want of Him?

And I think a gaping lacuna in our use of certain scriptural references may have had an impact on this, may have led to faulty understanding.

At the last Mass I heard, an otherwise excellent homily was marred by the priest's repeating several times, without nuance, that "God wants us to love Him, He doesn't want us fear Him."
Really?
Well, kinda, but no, not exactly... otherwise, so much for the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Can we not, f'rinstrance, differentiate between filial and servile fear?

It does seem to be a problem for some people.

The image of the assembly’s relationship to God and the emotional tone accompanying that relationship will not be the same come November. The old is marked by an attitude of reverence, joy, and trust. God is great and we are small, but the relationship is one of love. As a child might run to a parent with unaffected gladness, so we come into the presence of our God (“We come to you, Father...”). Not anymore. Now we come before God as a suppliant

Okay, that's not fair, the writer does differentiate, but is worried, essentially, about the change in emphasis.

Well, guess what?
That's what happens, that's how corrections work.

The attitude of IRreverence, neglect and presumptuousness that has obtained for so long has left us in serious need of "a change in the dominant note" of the liturgy.

And, um, yeah...... it does SING.

'Zany of that make sense?

(And now back to the picnic table and the troll-child...)