how to build or mend a fence,
how to keep your filfth out of his water supply
and your poison out of his air..."
- Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land
Jesus,
I repent.
Of my pride
that puts my self-serving way above Your servant way,
that puts my comfort, my desires, my goals,
ahead of You, and the rest of my family,
in this home, and in this world.
I repent
of my gluttony
that takes another helping when my sister in Sudan starves,
that consumes canned and packaged goods, plastic and cardboard, tin and glass, to feed my ravenous lifestyle.
while others cup their hands and beg for morsels of bread.
I repent
of my greed
for more,
another book, another vehicle, another pair of shoes,
when the widows and orphans don't have food, heat, or a place to lay their head.
I repent
of my theft.
The Earth and all that is within it is Yours,
And I, the lowly caretaker, have stolen what is Yours, acting as though it were mine.
I could cling to the facade of my own goodness.
But this was about confessing
how I blatantly sin against You and Your creation,
this Earth that You alone own,
and these people whom You have made
with whom I share so relatively little,
not about all that I think that I do right, assuaging my conscience.
"If I say that I have no sin, I deceive myself, and the truth is not in me."
I hold up my ugly confession, Father, of pride, gluttony, greed, and idolatry.
Cleanse me, Lord, cleanse me. My mind, my heart, my hands. And make all three like Yours.
Please consider: What can one person do?
