Lent is a time to review my life
with its all its failings and blessings,
a time to take a personal inventory
of how I have loved or failed to love God
and all those whose paths cross my mine...
When I look to my past
I remember those I've hurt, saddened and even betrayed
by my haste, my selfishness, my carelessness...
More often than not,
I truly didn't intend any harm
but nonetheless my self-interest and neglect
bruised and burdened others...
Lord, if there are ways for me to make amends,
show me how and give me the courage
to say what I need to say
and do what I need to do
- sooner than later...
If the time and circumstances for making amends
have long since passed me by,
then hear my prayer for those I've hurt
and heal what I have wounded...
Open my eyes and ears, my mind and heart
to those around me, Lord:
wake me to their presence and their needs
and keep gentle all the ways that my life touches theirs...
Nudge me to take the first step towards making peace
in my family, my neighborhood, at work and at school...
Keep me mindful of my call to be a peacemakerwhen I'm making decisions about whom to vote for...
Give me a merciful and forgiving heart...
Help me remember
how much,
how often,how graciously,
how fully
and how freely
you forgive me...
Forgive me my trespasses, Lord,as I forgive those who trespass against me...
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We cannot measure how you heal
or answer every sufferer’s prayer,
yet we believe your grace responds
where faith and doubt unite to care.
Your hands, though bloodied on the cross,
survive to hold and heal and warn,
to carry all through death to life
and cradle children yet unborn.
The pain that will not go away,
the guilt that clings from things long past,
the fear of what the future holds,
are present as if meant to last.
But present too is love which tends
the hurt we never hoped to find,
the private agonies inside,
the memories that haunt the mind.
So some have come who need your help
and some have come to make amends,
as hands which shaped and saved the world
are present in the touch of friends.
Lord, let your Spirit meet us here
to mend the body, mind and soul,
to disentangle peace from pain,
and make your broken people whole.
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