Good morning, good God!
Lord,
I try really hard
to do the right thing and say the right word
but despite my best efforts,
my words and deeds so often miss their mark
and, worse yet – end up hurting folks –
my words and deeds so often miss their mark
and, worse yet – end up hurting folks –
just when and where I tried and hoped to heal…
Sometimes my efforts at honesty
become a hard lesson in humility
and while I’m grateful for the lesson
I grieve the cost
become a hard lesson in humility
and while I’m grateful for the lesson
I grieve the cost
to those at whose expense
my newfound wisdom comes…
Sometimes, Lord,
my best intentions fall apart
in my own hands
and, try as I might,
and, try as I might,
it’s hard to see how and when and why
things went so wrong
– but they did and I need to own that…
So this morning, Lord, I offer you
`my failed deeds, my garbled words
and any harm they’ve done
to those entrusted to my care…
I pray you’ll work and speak your healing
on whatever unintended hurt
my carelessness has caused…
And, Lord, I offer you
all I’ve learned the hard way,
the way that’s paved with others’ hurts
a path that bears the prints of my rough steps…
I ask forgiveness, Lord,
of those whose hearts I’ve trespassed,
whose spirits I have troubled…
I offer my mistakes, Lord:
the ones I didn’t see coming,
the ones I should have seen coming,
and the ones I didn’t see until it was too late:
I offer my mistakes, Lord:
the ones I didn’t see coming,
the ones I should have seen coming,
and the ones I didn’t see until it was too late:
forgive me, Lord,
and heal the hearts of any I have hurt…
I offer you the pride, Lord,
that tempts me to think, and too often to believe,
that I’m always right and never wrong…
that I’m always right and never wrong…
Help me know myself as you do, Lord,
and open wide my eyes
to all in me that’s haughty, proud
and much to quick to judge…
Tame and heal and shape me, Lord,
mold and bless my heart,
make me humble in the things I do
and careful in the ways I speak
with everyone I know and meet
this morning and this week…
