Confession

Deborah Beach Giordano
© April 13, 2011

Gracious, All-Seeing God,
    I confess;
    I cannot hide my face –
    or my feelings –
    from You.

    No matter how I try,
    how cheerfully I smile,
    how convincingly I lie,
    I cannot pretend
    with You.

Merciful One,
    You understand
    my distress,
    my outrage,
    my anger

    that ignites;
    a blazing, wild fire
    ready to consume
    everything
    in its path

    setting my very bones
    alight
    with a savage hunger
    for vengeance
    and destruction,

    leaving my heart
    a smoking ruin,
    my soul seared through
    and darkened
    like charcoal.

And You lead me beside still waters;
You restoreth my soul.

Source of Strength,
    You understand
    my longing,
    my frustration,
    my fatigue,

    overwhelmed by
    the steady stream
    of foul deeds and vile deceptions
    that falls all around us
    like acid rain,

    poisoning my soul,
    embittering my attitude,
    drying up
    every trace
    of compassion;

    turning hope
    into cynicism,
    love into suspicion,
    turning my life
    into a parched and arid desert.

And You lead me beside still waters;
You restoreth my soul.

Glorious Creator,
    you see in me
    what is best,
    what is bright
    and beautiful,

    despite it all;
    despite my flaws
    and failings,
    Your compassion
    is everlasting;

    tenderly
    You speak my name,
    calling me to follow,
    to walk in the Light
    to live in faith;

    You renew my strength,
    inspire my vision,
    and lift up my soul
    on wings
    like an eagle’s.

    I am unloosed
    from the bonds
    of anger, fear and dread,
    redeemed
    from bleak desolation.

You, Holy God, have loved
the hell out of me.