Lenten Devotional, April 3: By Martha Doolittle

Published April 3, 2020 by SMBC

Sticks and Stones...

Acid words rend my face,
my ears deaf with pain,
my blue eyes burned beyond recognition.
I am not.

And yet my parents insist that I am.
They tell me God says I am.
But it hurts to be.
I cannot be.
I'm sorry for being me.
Can you forgive me?
Nay, can I forgive God for my being?
My tears are my food day and night. (Ps. 42:3)
I must be wicked because I have no rest.

One day I feel

His hands caress my face,
His voice breaks through my pain,
His eyes return my blue,
With astonishing love.
And I begin to believe.

And I beg forgiveness for rejecting my being.

And I begin to forgive.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as, in Christ, God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32