O God of Compassion,
I cannot
undo the past, or make it never have happened!
— neither can You. There are some things that are not possible even for You
— but not many!
I ask you, humbly,
and from the bottom of my heart;
Please, God, would You write straight with my crooked lines?
Out of the serious mistakes of my life will You make something beautiful for
you?
Teach me to
live at peace with You, and make peace with others and even with myself.
Give me
fresh vision. Let me experience your love so deeply that I am free to
face the future with a steady eye, forgiven, and strong in hope.
I came
across this prayer a few weeks ago – unfortunately I didn’t note the source.[1]
It
resonated with me because it addressed the experience I have which I call the “ghosts”
that sometimes haunt me in the witching hours of the night. The ghosts are memories which arrive unsought
and unasked for. In religious language
they are the things I have done which I ought not to have done and the things I
have not done, I ought to have done. I could
go on with there being no health in me but I won’t go that far – at least this morning.
At base they are regrets which I wish I
could change but as this prayer states, I cannot undo the past, or make it
never have happened!
Even God can’t
or perhaps it might be better to say won’t – I truly don’t know which. But I do know what is possible is forgiveness. It is possible through God in Jesus Christ to
forgive – forgive myself and others for all those things in life that I regret
happened. Those ghosts are actually
given by God to let me know that forgiveness for these things is not complete. The crooked path has not yet been made straight. Forgiveness – true forgiveness does not come
easily to me and I expect it does not come easily in most cases. However, it is a gift from God that those
ghosts come to let me know that the process of forgiveness is not yet
complete. I had not originally planned
to write about those ghosts on All Saints Day after a traditional night in
which the ghosts and goblins roamed so freely but perhaps, I can see God’s hand
in that.
May you be
blessed to have reconcile with your ghosts on your journey.
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