Gracious and Holy One,
creator of all things
and of emptiness,
I come to you
full of much that clutters and distracts,
stifles and burdens me,
and makes me a burden to others.

Empty me now
of growing dissatisfactions,
of anxious imaginings,
of fretful preoccupations,
of nagging prejudices,
of old scores to settle,
and of the arrogance of being right.

Empty me
of the ways I unthinkingly think of myself as powerless,
as a victim,
determined by sex, age, race,
as being less than I am,
of as other than yours.

Empty me
of the disguises and lies
in which I hide myself from other people
and from my responsibility
for my neighbors and for the world.

Hollow out in me a space
in which I will find myself,
find peace and a whole heart,
a forgiving spirit and holiness,
the springs of laughter,
and the will to reach boldly
for abundant life for myself
and the whole human family.

From Guerillas of Grace: Prayers for the Battle, by Ted Loder.