I've been trying to prayer the Jesus Prayer lately: \"Lord Jesus have mercy on me, a sinner.\" While in the past this prayer has been a reminder of my unworthiness, as I started envisioning the presence of Christ with me, I saw there was no shame in “sinner.” There’s just love. I thought about Jesus getting in trouble for eating with sinners, hanging out with riffraff. Sinner is a perfectly fine thing. And I need some mercy too, because there's a part of me that runs and hides, ashamed of my failures and mistakes. There's a part that’s so defended and afraid to show up in the light. Maybe that part can be pulled in by the current of love, carried along in grace.
Here’s a blessing to take with you:
As you go,
May you find the river of peace
flowing through every moment—
alongside your doubts
and fears
and heartaches,
underneath your joys and excitement.
May you feel it rushing between your toes
as you find you are intertwined
with every soul.
May you let go
into the flow of that river
where we all belong.
","author_name":"Aaron Austin"}