Listen to me Under My Words

O God,
I come to you now
as a child to my Mother,
      out of the cold which numbs
          into the warm who cares.
Listen to me inside,
      under my words

      where the shivering is,
in the fears
      which freeze my living,
in the angers
      which chafe my attending,
in the doubts
      which chill my hoping,
in the events  
      which shrivel my thanking,
in the pretenses
      which stiffen my loving.

Listen to me, Lord,
as a Mother,
      and hold me warm,
          and forgive me.
Soften my experiences
      into wisdom,

my pride
      into acceptance,
my longing
      into trust,
and soften me
      into love
          and to others
              and to you.

(Guerrillas Of Grace, by Ted Loder)