A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 9/23

Good morning, good God!

Been thinking, Lord, 'bout all I have
and how I hoard and hold so close
some things I should let go...

It's time to take some inventory,
to identify the things I cling to:
help me name them, Lord,
and help me acknowledge
the hold, the grip they have on me...

I offer you, Lord, my time:
all the minutes, hours and days
I want to keep to myself...
Help me let go my grip
on the time you give me to be close to you in prayer,
to be there for my neighbor
help me freely share the time you've given me...

I offer you my theories and opinions,
my speculations and positions:
all my ways of determining
what's true and what isn't...
Help me let go the thought that my way
is the only way...

Help me see the world around me
through your eyes, Lord
- and through the eyes of others
whose troubled paths may cross my own...

Help me see more than my own eyes see,
know more than my own mind knows,
think far beyond what my thoughts tell
- and believe beyond the limits of my doubt:
help me know your truth, Lord,
and help me know it well...

And I offer you my resentments, my grudges,
the chips upon my shoulder,
and the anger I hold tightly:
loose my grip on these
and lift their burden from my heart...
Lighten the load I carry
when I won't let go hard feelings
and I nurse the hurts I keep...

Free me from attachment to bad memories,
stale disappointments and old grief...
Take away what keeps me
from shouldering your spirit's yoke of love...

I offer you my anxieties, Lord,
the ones I cling to in my fear
the ones that keep me from the peace
for which I hunger and I thirst...

Help me see how fear befriends me
and tempts me to believe that fear is all I'll ever know...
Heal my fears and help me find
and help me welcome, Lord,
your presence and your peace...

I offer my possessions, Lord:
the things I hoard for no good reason,
the money I save up while others are in need,
the stuff I buy that I don't need,
the things I waste while others want...

Change my vocabulary, Lord:
less me and mine,
more you and yours
- and so much more of ours...

My mind and heart are cluttered, Lord,
with things much better shared or given,
cast away or left behind,
disposed of or forgotten...

Help me let go, Lord,
especially when I cling
and hold what's less than
good and pure and true and just...

I cannot give it all away today, Lord,
but help me let go something today
to free me for tomorrow, for the week ahead
and for seasons yet to come...

I offer all I need to let go of, Lord,
and pray you'll fill me
with all I truly need...

Amen.