March 1, 2023
A Prayer for Lent
          O Lord, we live in a culture of screens,
                little screens,
                            big screens,
                                     all kinds of screens,
                and many of us can’t take our eyes off them,
                      heads down,
                            heads up,
                                  heads that can’t turn away,
                    one hand never free,
                          one eye always eyeing,
                                      talking, texting, tweeting
                                              non-stop,
                        at work, at home, in the mall and
                                                   grocery store too,
                             out to dinner with friends
                                      all the while reading what lies on
                                                         our laps,
                  not really seeing the other,
                        not seeing the face of the other coming toward us
                                 or seated right next to us,
                           the very face that might be the very face
                                          we most need and long to see,
                                               the very face of Christ.
          O Lord, this day and each day, give us, we pray,
                                      the courage –
                   yes, the courage, because that is what it takes –
                                    the courage –
                              to look up from the screen,
                           to turn away from the screen, even
                         to turn off the screen,
                    and look, really look,
                                       at the faces of others
                      and see them as the human beings that they are,
                  human beings who need us to be human to them,Â
                        human beings
                             who may be as happy as we are
                                   or as unhappy as we are
                          who feel the same grief and emptiness
                                                 we feel,
                        who need the very same mercy and love
                                               and kindness
                                                       shown to them
                                 as we need shown to us,
                   human beings who are fighting the same battle
                              we all of us are fighting
                            and need kindness and love and mercy
                                     to see them through.
          O Lord, help us to keep looking,
                                       looking away,
                      and look at others
                    so that we keep being Christian
                          in a way that matters.
          Amen.