PURGED
“A Prayer Against Bitterness”
O Sovereign FATHER, Keeper of the soul, YOU who dwell in the high and Holy place, Yet stoop to whisper in the chambers of the broken, Guard our hearts from the cruel delight, The bitter feast of vengeance. Do not let our wounds Become architects of cruelty. Even when betrayal wore their face, Even when they laughed at our ruin, Let us not sip from the same poisoned well. O God of justice and mercy, Teach us that healing does not come From mirroring the malice that harmed us. Let not their delight in our collapse Become the mold we remake ourselves in. Jesus, Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief, Did YOU not bleed for both betrayer and beloved? Did YOU not wash the feet of the one who sold YOU? Did YOU not pray for those who pierced YOU, Even as they mocked the mercy YOU offered? Then fashion in us YOUR likeness: A heart broken but not embittered, A spirit wounded yet still worshiping, A soul that refuses to dance To the drumbeat of someone else’s downfall. Spirit of the Living God, Descend upon the battlefield within us. Where flesh demands justice by fire, Plant seeds of grace instead. Where memory stirs revenge, Let love rise louder. FATHER, shield us from this sin: That we would ever seek joy From another’s fall, Even if they once soared At the sound of our pain. Let it be enough, O Lord, That YOU see. That YOU redeem. That YOU will one day set all crooked things straight. Let our joy come not from the fall of the wicked, But from the rise of the righteous. Let our triumph not be vengeance, But resurrection. In the name of Jesus, Who conquered not with swords but scars, Amen