Terrorism in Barcelona. Threats from North Korea. The horror in Charlottesville. This last week has given me a heartbreaking glimpse into the minds and hearts of people that I wish I could unsee and cannot. I close my eyes and see the Nazi flag being raised. I see the KKK marching and the Confederate flag being used as a symbol of hate. I see swastikas—and I am horrified when I think that this is 2017. And over and over, I cry out to God, “Where are You?” This is my only answer.
Our Father,
Oh, how we need you.
which art in heaven,
and also with us.
hallowed be Thy name.
I call on Your most holy, sacred name.
Thy kingdom come
My soul aches for You to take away the pain of this world
Thy will be done
yet I’m scared to say those words and surrender the control I think I have.
on earth as it is in heaven.
This earth quakes with hate and violence and anger,
Give us this day
and I can only face this one day at a time.
Our daily bread
I cannot live without my daily portion of You–
And forgive us our debts,
for without You, I descend into darkness—forgive my willful blindness,
As we forgive our debtors.
and show me how to give grace to those whose actions I don’t understand.
Lead us not into temptation,
Turn my eyes away from the world.
but deliver us from evil:
O, Father, You are the only salvation from the evil that seems to spread like wildfire.
For Thine is the kingdom,
In my fear, You remind me to look up: all of this is Yours
and the power
and though I am powerless to change it—You are not.
and the glory
so I will praise You
forever.
and finally say, with peace—“Your will, not mine, be done.”
Amen.
Amen.
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Comments 9
Thank you for this, how we need to be reminded of the Lord’s Prayer. I did a very long piece on discrimination that was read out at our church in a service for the many native women here in Vancouver that were murdered, some whom were found, some whom were never found. They were killed and cut up and so on by one man, it became a huge case. Sometimes our poetry become prayers to our Father. Sometimes I am reminded by the first lines of Psalm 23— ‘The lord is my Shepherd, I shall not BE in want’.
To not be in want is all we can manage at times. We live in incredibly sad times, full of injustice, hatred, anger, greed and harsh realities that only seem to get worse and more than ever we need to just hold on to the One who can save us and redeem us, the only One who save this world of ours. Thanks for the reminder of how we may pray.
Thank you, Klara. I feel your heart and your pain–we need to pray for wisdom for our leaders and, like you said, hold on to the only One who can save this world. And yes–my poetry is my prayer, as you said. Thank you for the reminder of that first beautiful line of the 23rd Psalm.
Beautiful, Renee. My heart and mind echo your thoughts.
Thank you, Heather–for the comment and the reminder that others feel the same way that I do.
Enimies!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OoHGZFyMCHU
Thank you, Steve, for your comments and feedback. I agree with you that we must learn from the past in order to find a way forward without the hate and violence. Thank you for taking the time to comment.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9itwt_opsvQ
Renee. Not Renner. How not home.
LOL I love how my phone corrects me. On that point Marty is technical so you should know some. Watch the movie the Circle with Tom Hanks. Makes me ashamed of the “big data” field protos we did for big data here for AT&T. I’M ashamed! Glad I’m retired!
Renner you have a global sized heart and a giant fragile psyche and wear everything on your sleeve. You and your husband are beautiful. I have found out home to delete all my wall and block most ads and have deleted my profile and exited Facebook for good. I had to. I was becoming a one man hate all hate groups protest! Your post is beautiful. I’ve lived through the worst and I see such deja vue. I fear for lives. It was ugly then and has the potential to get worse. I’ve done my time and you young people NEED to settle the difference and stop this sh1t before the National Guard tanks come down the streets of our neighborhoods. Be there. Talk some sense into the people you know that protest. Protest currently only incites more protests and huge conflict. Catch 22!!!!!!