Daily Devotionals
April 14, 2020
From Injury To Pardon
April 14, 2020
DAILY READING
FIELD NOTES
This week, we’re going to dive deeply into the beloved Prayer of St. Francis. The prayer invites us to look at the dark places in the world and in our own lives, while considering how we might be agents of God’s peace and healing. With all that is pressing in on us now, we hope that you use this time to find peace for your soul and become an instrument of God’s peace in the world.
Today, we aim to replace injury (harm) with pardon (forgiveness). Sometimes we don’t even realize all the wrongs of which we’ve kept score. We experience or witness harm and it wounds us, but we don’t record it. But as we have more time in our homes, with fewer distractions, we begin to remember and resent the pain that we’ve endured. So let’s spend time on the harm that has been done to us. Not to dwell on it or to allow it to do more damage. Let’s spend time with our injury so we can know the freedom of pardon.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD
- What personal injury/harm have you known?
- Who/what do you need to forgive? How can you extend that forgiveness in a time of social distancing?
FAMILY FIELD TALK
- How can your family give forgiveness to the world today? To a neighbor? A family member? A friend? A stranger?
PRAYER GUIDE
Lord, where there is injury, let me sow forgiveness. Help me to forgive those who have wronged and humiliated me. Help me to forgive those who I witness at a distance harming others. Give me strength so I will be a person of solidarity and compassion and unlimited love. And help me to offer the kind of grace that you give. Amen.