A meditation on forgiveness inspired by Psalm 8.

O Lord, my God,

you are magnificent

beyond anything I could imagine!

Your majesty is renown

throughout the earth

and above the heavens.

With faith as simple as a child’s,

I raise the banner of your Name

and your enemies must flee into shadow.

When I pause from my busy schedule

to observe all that surrounds me,

I recognize your handiwork everywhere I look.

Your night sky dazzles me,

moon and stars shifting through their seasons

according to your divine calendar.

I gaze at those distant lights

and for a moment I realize

how fleeting my life is—

how small my worries,

how petty my grudges,

how futile my manipulations.

I wonder that you pay me any attention at all.

Yet in the greatness of your love,

you have set me high in your esteem.

You have crowned me, like royalty,

with your own glory and honor.

Your beloved creation

you have placed in my care—

fish and fowl, herds and wild beasts,

every creature who crawls the earth or swims the sea.

People, too, you have set under my watch—

friends and strangers,

loved ones and adversaries.

May I tend them all with a heart and mind

ever listening for your guiding word.

O Lord, my God,

you are magnificent

beyond all that my mind can hold!