“O Word Made Flesh, stand guard at the gate of my mouth. Be my voice this day that the words I speak will be healing, affirming, true and gentle. Give me wisdom to think before I speak. Bless the words in me that are waiting to be spoken. Live and abide in my words so that others will feel safe in my presence. Place my words in the kiln of your heart that they may be enduring and strong, tempered and seasoned with love and resilience. Give me a well-trained tongue that has been borne out of silent listening in the sanctuary of my heart. May my words become love in the lives of others. Amen” (Macrina Wiederkehr, Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day).

I know from personal experience how very easy it is to say the wrong thing or to refrain from saying what is right. Both generally come from a place of fear not of faith. Both lead to regret. Both are typically not the end of the world like we sometimes think they might be.

I need wisdom to know what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. I need wisdom to know when to keep silent and learn to listen well. I need to seek forgiveness from others when I wound with my words or with my lack of words. I need to give myself grace, remembering that while I’m not who I will be or who I hoped I would be at this point, by the grace of God I’m not who I was and never will be again.