Oh lift my given load that I, forgiven,
Might give away forgiveness, free as heaven.
This is the fifth in the sequence of seven sonnets on the Lord’s Prayer which I am posting this week as part of the Church Of England’s Thy Kingdom Comeweek of prayer leading up to Pentecost. The Sonnets will be published together in my new book Parable and Paradox at the end of this month.
As always you can hear me read the sonnet by clicking on the title or the ‘play’ button.
I am grateful to Philippa Pearson for choosing the images that accompany this series.
Forgive as we forgive: the prayer you give us,
Comes home so close yet radiates so far.
We set the limits on our own forgiveness;
As generous or grudging as we are.
The wounds we give and take in all our weakness,
The injuries that smoulder, burning slow,
The sins that others visited upon us,
Are ours to hold or utterly let go.
You tell the story of the wretched debtor,
The one forgiven everything he owed,
Who then exacted payment, to the letter,
From one who could not bear the given load.
Oh lift my given load that I, forgiven,
Might give away forgiveness, free as heaven.
Malcolm Guite 