Prayer for the Road

God of setting out
and arrival
and the road between,
we lay down,
with reverent attention
those things that we have taken up
to protect us –
from You
and from one another.

We lay down the resentments we have tenderly nurtured,
the coveting that has turned us from our deepest self.
We lay down our mistrust of love,
and our hidden despair.

We lay them down gently
by this road
on which we are asked to stay awake with You,
to remain with You,
to watch with You
through all the questions
meant to live in us –
through all the answers we have not ourselves made.

Our laying down of these things
is our confession,

our bending toward the freedom
from which we rise,
with renewed intention,
to follow You.