God of grace, have mercy on us.
Judge our evil, O God,
and free us from our abominations.
The blood of the innocent is on our hands,
the cries of infants are in our ears,
the sweat of cruelty pools on our brows,
from the effort of our crimes
against those those of tender age.
Break our hardened hearts, Loving God.
Grant us holy anguish and grievous dread.
Gift us with sorrow and burden us with grief,
and forgive our paltry resistance.
Give us the anger and hope to lament;
give us voice to cry out, to weep, to rage.
Bless those we have hurt.
Save them from our evil.
Heal and protect them.
Accompany them in the darkness.
Forgive us for our complicity.
We repent in dust and ashes.
Give us the courage to bear
the horror we have caused.
Grant us wisdom to speak, and courage to act.
Support us with your mighty hand to do justice,
to assail the mighty, and to stand with the weak.
Break our hearts, O God,
and if need be, break our backs,
that we may cease our cruelty.
Convict us, O God, and turn us to kindness.
Have mercy on us, that we may have mercy.
For you are a gentle God, kind and life-giving,
and you redeem us from our fear and hate.
—June 20, 2018