Mortification
O God,
Sometimes I am mortified by something I do or don’t do; sometimes I am ashamed because I do not live up to my expectations of myself.
Sometimes I purposely mortify myself; I try to discipline my body—to deny myself something that I enjoy, usually—in order to try to heighten my sense of dependence on you and to remind myself that my true joy is in you.
Sometimes I am made aware of the mortification of my body in another sense: it is in fact decaying and one day it will die.
Let mortification be an appropriate part of my life; after all, I do fall short, I do need to discipline myself, and I am going to die.
On the other hand, don’t let me overdo it—don’t let my shame linger; don’t let me despise my body; don’t let me fixate on my death.
Instead, move me in your grace toward acceptance of myself, toward appreciation of this body that you gave me, and toward anticipation of life beyond life.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment