Friday Prayer

Holy one, you know me entirely
my love for words
blogposts and poems
Facebook comments and tweets.
Even in faceless communication
I find you
often.

For online are your beloved children
who open my eyes
my ears, my heart
to ideas, thoughts,
experiences
beyond my own life.

Yet sometimes my enthusiasm
– well-intentioned, sincere! –
doesn’t think
beyond 140 pithy characters
to the hearts I meant to support.

Forgive me.

Forgive me
when I forget that my political argument,
my shared meme, my retweeted wit,
is a human being with real needs:
to get home from a Skittles run;
to flee from violence, children in tow;
to pee.

Forgive me
when my takedown of a dehumanizing argument
does nothing to restore humanity, compassion, grace
but only makes the conversation
more pervasive: exhausting and inescapable.

Forgive me
when my need to boost my own
Progressive Social Media Cred
speaks louder than the voices I say I’m supporting
and only shows off my privilege.

Forgive me.
Grant me the humility,
the wisdom and discernment,
to keep my word-spaces as safe
for those being talked about
as for those doing the talking.

Amen.