Prayer for this Tuesday of Lent:
Too many of our children
do not allow the simple news
of how we were all created
as beloved children of your grace
to reside within them.
There is pain and endless searching
for an acceptance within this world –
There is fear and insecurity
that has our most precious gifts
seeking life in self-undermining acts.
Too many of our children
did not seek this unhealthy path
without the help of others.
They did not fall into it by chance.
We have taught them well –
Our obsession with… and love of
stuff
prestige
power
and more stuff
We have placed material substance
above those things that truly sustain life.
We have emphasized selfishness
over selflessness and service
to community, humanity and you –
our Creator and Source of Hope.
We beg your forgiveness,
O God whose mercy knows no bounds.
Yet if forgiveness is to be received
our request for forgiveness
must be offered with an intent
To change
To seek a different path
To make our lives an example
and alternative for our children.
Our values and priorities
have been birthed from
a short-sidedness;
Birthed from an inability to see beyond
the moment before us –
to see beyond
our exclusive communities –
of race, nationality and economics.
Yet you are the One
who is always asking us
to think beyond ourselves
beyond this moment
beyond what can be seen or known.
You have asked us to live by faith –
A faith in you
and a faith in your Spirit’s
capacity to do something
amazing within us.
In this Lenten Season
Give us the courage
To beg for your forgiveness
Not because you need us to beg
but the intensity
and sheer desperation
reflects our awareness
of the need to change,
and our reliance upon you
if the change is going to occur.
Like too many of our children
we do not allow the simple news
of how we were all created
as beloved children of your grace
to reside within us.
We have work to do –
Help us! Assist us! Encourage us!
Please, O Creator of All…
Amen.
MAKE THIS A PRIORITY
