A Prayer for Thursday, March 26, 2015

Thirty-Second Day of Lent

O God,

We affirm that we cannot know or understand what all lies behind and plays into the decisions we make, the choices we choose, and the actions we undertake; we cannot know or be mindful of the roles that genetics, that family and social environment, that human evolution, that experience or lack of experience, or that the influence of others play in why we think what we think, feel what we feel, say what we say, or do what we do.

But we confess that, when it comes down to it, we are responsible for ourselves; we are responsible for our own attitudes, our own words, and our own actions.

So help us to be as wise as we can be when it comes to comprehending the complicated nature of our humanity; help us extend ourselves some appropriate understanding without making excuses for ourselves.

But also help us to be as brave as we can be when it comes to accepting our responsibility; help us to acknowledge our fault and to confess our sins without becoming mired in guilt.

Thank you that you know everything about who we are and about why we do the things we do.

Thank you that you judge us through eyes that see us through your grace and love.

Amen.