a first prayer for the prison next week

We confess that there are times
we find living with hope
is simply too hard,

when it seems easier to focus on miracles of virgin births, shining stars
and wise men from the east
than it is to have faith that love might come
into even our broken and shamed lives

we think of those places where love is beyond our hope:
in our broken relationships
in the people we have hurt
in the systems that damage and oppress us

we name them silently,
in an act of desperate faith
that this will be enough
to make the space love needs
to be born again.