middle passage | Worship's Wake

There are two versions. One for all to say the confession together, the other parsed for differing contexts of a diverse congregation.

Version 1 – as a congregational confession

God through painful rain and redeeming light:

Have mercy on us.

We bring our tears in our hands.

Tears wept upon the middle passage where humanity was ripped from us.

Tears wept in cotton fields, on bridges and in diners,

in court rooms and in dreams the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Tears wept by those who long held power.

Tears wept out of recognition

the world we take for granted was built on the whipped backs of our enslaved brothers and sisters.

Tears because in order to gain freedom, some returned to a land they never knew as home.

Tears because we all are still seeking home today.

Tears wept in a repeating unrepentant history of blame, arrogance, hatred and apathy.

We have not loved You, Jesus.

We have not loved You in one another.

We have not loved You beyond skin, beyond language, and beyond borders.

Forgive us, we pray.

Shine your redeeming light through our tears

so rainbow sight might come into our blind eyes

so we can see the promise of Your presence

so we can see You in everyone.

Children of God,

Christ came in the midst of our broken skies as light.

God has made his home among all people,

And God, himself, will wipe away every tear.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

Celebrate visions of God in each of us! Amen!

Version 2 – as separate confessions