A People With Many Secrets

It seems to be becoming something of a regular thing to post a prayer by Walter Brueggemann in this space on Thursdays, and today is no exception.  As I continue to slowly re-read "Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth", the book of his prayers, I regularly find bits that express deep heart cries with clarity that demand their reposting in this space.  And so today I offer you the prayer with the same title as this post, written and read to a Psalms class, on January 14, 1999.

You are the God from whom no secret can be hid,
and we are a people with many secrets,
that we want to tell for the sake of our lives,
that we dare not tell because they are deep and painful.
But they are our secrets...and they count for much;
they are our truth...rooted deep in our lives.
You are the God of all truth,
and now we bid you heed our truth,
about which we will not bear false witness...
The truth of grief unresolved,
the truth of pain unacknowledged,
the truth of fear too child-like,
the truth of hate, as powerful as it is deep,
the truth of being taken advantage of,
and being used,
and manipulated,
and slandered.
We trust the great truth of your wondrous love,
but we will not sit still for it,
UNTIL you hear us.
Our truth - heard by you - will make us free.
So be the God of all truth, even ours,
we pray in the name of Jesus,
who is your best kept secret of hurt.  Amen.