Deliver us, Lord, from lofty aspirations
That fool us into thinking we can outrun ourselves.

“If I ascend to heaven, you are there.”
Thank God, because we are there too.

With the heavy weight of humanity
An inclination toward selfishness and violence
Honed over all the generations of our species
Birthing all our polite little vices
And our acts of unspeakable evil.

We rail against some
And silently feed others
And call others good, and celebrate them.
All the while, little ones suffer and die.

Deliver us, Lord, from lofty aspirations
That fool us into thinking we can outrun ourselves.
That promotion, or education,
or spiritual achievement, or public policy, or outer space
Will somehow make us more than what we are.

Deliver us, Lord.
We cannot deliver ourselves.

“If I ascend to heaven, you are there.”
What if I stay on earth? Are you here, too?
Where are you?

Come, Lord Jesus.