Prayers for Lent, Day 29: Give Up, Take On, Pray

            Imagine a trust in yourself, or another person, or in life itself, that doesn’t need to be proved or demonstrated, that is able to contain uncertainty.          
        People sometimes put their trust in a spiritual leader and are terribly betrayed if that person then fails to live up to ideals.               But a real trust of faith would be to decide whether to trust someone, knowing that betrayal is inevitable because life and personality are never without shadow. 
         The vulnerability that faith demands could be matched by an equal trust in oneself, the feeling that one can survive the pain of betrayal.   
                                       ~Thomas Moore* 1940-          [emphasis added]

Dear Jesus,
          Betrayal in Your life pales in comparison to my own. While You saw it coming and predicted it to the very people who would betray You, perhaps You still hoped that it would not come to be. 
         As for me, learning to trust after discovering a betrayal was very difficult and very painful. I have moved on but the faint echo of the hurt is still there. So, for today, I will give up needing to replay the anguish in my mind and take on making certain that I am not one who will ever deceive another or cause any emotional harm. I will pray to trust my own instinct about people and accept that I will sometimes be disappointed.          
        Betrayal is survivable - out of everyone I've ever known there have been very very few who have willingly mislead me and one or two who didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. This is proof enough that I can have faith and trust in others as I have in You. And more importantly, I know that my faith and trust in You will always be well-placed.  amen.

*Thomas Moore, is a writer, psychotherapist, and former professor at Glassboro State College and Southern Methodist University.  Dr. Moore has authored of Care of the Soul and Soul Mates among a number of other books on spirituality, and lectures internationally on ecology, psychotherapy, and religion.  

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