March 8, 2023
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A Prayer for Lent
(adapted from Frederick Bucchner)
          O Lord, as much as we might wish,
                not one of us can bring back yesterday
                   or shape tomorrow.
                                    Only today is ours,
                      and it will not be ours for long,
                         and once it is gone
                               it will never in all time
                                    be ours again.
          O Lord, only you know what today holds in store for us,
                     yet even we know something
                           of what it will hold.
                                            The chance
                                          to speak the truth,
                                       to show mercy,
                                    to ease another’s burden.
                                  The chance
                                           to resist evil,
                          to remember all the good times and
                                   good people of our past,
                       to be brave,
                    to be strong,
                  to be glad.
                          The chance
                                   to be the person
                                       you have taught us to be
                               and know that we should be.Â
          O Lord, help us to make today,
                                      this day,
                the day we do not miss the chance
                              to obey
                           your will for us
                                          and
                        live your truth
                                 in a world that no longer knows
                      what truth is.
          Amen.