A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 3/19

Good morning, good God!

I have some things to get off my chest, Lord,
and so I offer them to you
as a confession of faith,
at least a confession of the faith I want to have...

I offer up the fantasy, Lord,
that my relationship with you
was somehow, first, my idea...

I offer up the confused notion
that the love you so freely offer me
depends somehow on my goodness...

I offer up, Lord, the mistaken idea
that my misfortunes come from your neglect
but that my successes are due
to my own wisdom and initiative...

I offer up the misunderstanding
that my sin-sick soul might repulse you:
you, my Divine Physician,
whose only care is the healing of my heart
for making it holy and happy...

I offer up the foolish thought
that you withhold your pardon, Lord,
'til I'm contrite of heart,
forgetting that it's only and always
your forgiving Spirit
who moves my heart to repentance...

I offer up, Lord, the crazy, mixed-up ways I forget:

- that you're the Creator
and I'm the work of your hands...

- that you loved me first,
that my love for you is my grateful response...

- that your forgiveness
anticipates my sin and my contrition
that the depths of your mercy are never exhausted...

- that every joy and blessing I know comes from your hand,
that no trouble or pain I face escapes your notice
or goes without your gentle touch...

Set me straight, Lord, on who's who
in my relationship with you...

Open my eyes all day long
that I might see the ways in which you work, tirelessly,
to draw us closer together...

Remind me often, Lord,
that yours is to give
and mine to receive what you offer,
that when I've received what you've given,
I need only to thank you
and be generous in sharing with others
what you have shared with me...

Help me to practice what I've preached, Lord,
and to believe that I am what I am - by your grace:
that who I truly am
is who I am in you
and nothing more - and nothing less...

I offer you my prayer this Monday morning, Lord,
and every night and day this week...

Amen.