A Prayer for Those Who Serve in Broken Organizations

God, bless all who serve inside broken machines for the sake of the vulnerable.

Give strength to those who tolerate another day of propaganda,

who are yanked about by recklessness or thoughtless dominance,

who absorb the blows of ego into their own bodies while keeping their eyes on eternity.

Restore the hearts of generous idealists wearied by double speak.

Show them how to be honest when honesty feels impossible.

Give them close friends who are truthful and wholehearted so that they will know they are not alone.

Grant them knowing smiles, silent hugs, and hands held in quick, secret prayers.

Give them a gentle sense of humor that deflects despair when power is silly, shallow, naive, proud, dishonest, or greedy.

Give them the long view. 

Remind them that Eowyn was given her moment, even in the darkness of Theoden’s kingdom. 

Remind them to breathe when they are lonely.

Really breathe.

When you allow the perceptive to see more of truth than a pure heart can bear, give them a safe place to cry out.

Then give them courage to keep going.

Show them when to overlook an offense.

Show them when to face up to a bully.

Show them when to acquiesce. 

Show them when to draw a line in the sand.

God, pull back the curtain and show them the abundance of grace you offer to those who  hobble onward in a world that doesn’t work like it should.

Tend their anger. Tend their despair. Tend their isolation. Tend the wounds they receive from false guilt and spiritual abuse.

Help them hear you whispering over them, “Friend,” and “Brother,” and “Sister,” and “Child.”

Orient them in the unshakable core of your unconquerable plan. 

Draw them into the refuge of your relentless love.

Broken Forms by Franz Marc 1914