Hear me out, God.
Please, be my ear.
Tend gently to my weary heart.
I am in distress!
The sounds of evil all around make it hard to think clearly.
So many desire to do me and mine harm.
Instead of tending to their pain, they attack us.
My heart is anguished and I am afraid.
In this vulnerable flesh, I tremble.
I’m overwhelmed by all that would have us destroyed.
From deep within, I cry
“If only I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
I’d distance myself completely
And make a home in the wild,
a shelter from the storm.”
Mix up all their words that lead others astray, O God!
Let no more be deceived.
There is violence in this place.
Day and night they walk around and look with no remorse.
They see the ruins,
the effects of oppression and fraud
all to keep their power in place.
But, even more so,
what eats at me is not my enemies –
I can bear them.
It isn’t the ones who attack me –
I can hide from them.
It is my friends! My colleagues! My equals!
The ones whom I have dined with.
Whose family I have prayed for.
Whose well-being I have considered my own.
Have we not even worshiped together?
My own companions betray me.
With speech smoother than butter,
But with a heart set on war;
With words that were softer than oil,
But in fact were drawn swords.
In my deepest distress, I remember God.
I turn over all my anguish
and delight in that which will remain
when everything else fades away:
Integrity.
Justice.
Compassion.
Truth.
The Holy sustains me.
The Holy holds me firm.
In Love, still, I will place my trust.
