This morning my priest encouraged us to assume a posture of forgiveness and empathy to this day of remembrance. We sang this simple hymn in church this morning before the gospel reading. I wanted to share it. I had never heard it before.
“Forgive our sins as we forgive” you taught us, Lord, to pray;
but you alone can grant us grace to live the words we say.
How can your pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart
that broods on wrongs and will not let old bitterness depart?
In blazing light your cross reveals the truth we dimly knew,
how small the debts men owe to us, how great our debt to you.
Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls, and bid resentment cease;
then, reconciled to God and man, our lives will spread your peace.
- Rosamond E. Herklots
Closing Prayer from the Litany of Remembrance written for the 10th Anniversary of 9/11:
“O God, you have bound us together in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance and respect.; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
