By Janet Marley, England, 1988
Oh Christ,
In whose body was named
All the violence of the world,
And in whose memory is contained
Our profoundest grief,
We lay open to you:
The violence done to us in the time before memory;
The unremembered wounds that have misshaped our lives;
The injustice we cannot forget
And have not forgiven.
The remembrance of them is grievous to us;
The burden of them is intolerable.
We lay open to you:
The violence done in our name in time before memory;
The unremembered wounds we have inflicted;
The injustice we cannot forget
And for which we have not been forgiven.
The remembrance of them is grievous to us;
The burden of them is intolerable.
We lay open to you:
Those who have pursued a violent knowledge the world cannot forget;
Those caught up in violence they have refused to name;
Those who have enacted violence which they have not repented.
The remembrance of them is grievous to us;
The burden of them is intolerable.
We lay open to you:
The victims of violence whose only memorial is our anger;
Those whose suffering was sustained on our behalf;
Those whose continued oppression provides the ground we stand on.
The remembrance of them is grievous to us;
The burden of them is intolerable.
Hear what comfortable words our savior Christ says to all
Who truly turn to God:
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,
For I am gentle and lowly in heart,
And you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
We wholeheartedly repent
Of the evil we have done.
And of the evil done on our behalf;
And we look for grace to offer forgiveness,
And to know ourselves forgiven.