Prayer by Kyle Oliver for prayr.cc (CC BY 2.0)
Photo: “And i her eyes.. you see nothing ♪” by Amparo Torres O. via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
God, what a mess.
Some of it I made. Some of it just happened.
It started small. I did not handle it well. Somewhere along the line I just stopped caring.
God, I want a do-over.
Accept my praise and gratitude for these eight grace-filled words:
and there was evening, and there was morning
I cannot relive today. You know me too well to want that for me anyhow.
If anyone is in Christ: new creation.
Your Spirit beckons me beyond this moment, beyond these remaining hours of my day, even. Beyond regret. Beyond salvage most especially.
You do not need me to fix this. Not today.
Just past the horizon, you have already begun making all things new.
God, what a gift.
Amen.
I hope you remember this prayer or something like it the next time you have one of those days. “Good Lord, deliver me from salvage operations” should be my new wrist tattoo.
Sorry I missed you all yesterday.
Related prayers for one of those days
Song of Simeon (BCP, Public Domain)
Lord, you now have set your servant free *
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations, *
and the glory of your people Israel.
63. (BCP, Public Domain)
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.
Related Media
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Brother Roger of Taize: Essential Writings by Brother Roger
This book has been an essential companion on my spiritual journey. What put it in my head in relation to today’s prayer is a great story Brother Roger tells about the spirituality of Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras: “In the evening, when I retire to my room … I close the door on all my cares, and I say: Tomorrow!” Amen to that.