Tuesday, March 28, 2017

The "Solemn Reproaches" Based on the Enneagram

The "Solemn Reproaches of the Cross" is a traditional element of the Good Friday Liturgy.  I have rewritten them based on the Enneagram.  Here they are: 

Solemn Reproaches of the Cross

O my people, 
O my church, 
What have I done to you, 
or in what have I offended you?

O my people:
I breathed my life into you
and gave you power and wisdom.
I placed you secure in a magnificent garden,
and woke you to its surpassing beauty.
Yet we prefer to remain asleep
in our wishful thinking
and content with easy answers.
We cherish our comfortable routines,
and, placating others,
remain unconscious and silent
to the needs of the world.
Doing nothing while injustice reigns is not “peacemaking.”
Where were you when my people were being loaded into boxcars?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people,
I gave you my authority
and made you the agent of my love.
I called you to protect my creation
and look out for the powerless.
But we are addicted to our own anger.
To get what we want
we employ violent words and actions
as our first response.
We advocate vengeance and retribution.
We harden our hearts against others
in a selfish craving 
to acquire, own, and control.
Your “leadership” is murdering my creation.
Who can survive under your bombs and missiles?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I gifted you with my compassion,
gave you gentleness and forgiveness.
I placed you in a perfect world
and opened your heart to wonder and grace
that you may enjoy the beauty and goodness
all around you.
But we dreamed up impossible standards,
withholding love to those who fail to meet them.
We find fault everywhere 
and live in perpetual disappointment and rage.
We judge others
and drive for order, efficiency, 
and a counterfeit perfection.
My creation bleeds from your “reforms.”
Who can tolerate being squeezed into your patterns? 
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I crowned you with immeasurable and intrinsic value
placing a good and blessed heart within you.
I made you able to share in my love
in communion with others
without fear or shame.
But we look for affirmation elsewhere
and sell our souls for attention.
We gleefully trample others in our striving to be the best.
We adopt grandiose expectations for ourselves,
don masks to avoid responsibility,
and exist in terror of being found out.
The people you trample in your drive for “excellence” cry out to me.
Who can endure your grades, assessments, reviews, and evaluations?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I molded you in love 
and made you able to give and receive love
in infinite measure.
I filled your heart with joy.
But we turn your love into a scarce commodity
for exchange and compensation.
We become possessive of others
and connive to force them to need us.
We stew over our own perceived rejections.
You have given “love” a bad name and left many in sorrow.
Who can grow with you attached to them,
sucking out life and weighing them down?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I made you a channel, a vessel,
through which my goodness and blessing
may flow into the world.
I gave you my own creativity.
But we hate ourselves and despair of the future.
We withdraw into our precious individuality,
demanding to be treated as unique and special,
getting in the way of your goodness
and blocking your light.
Your negativity brings nightmares to my people,
poisoning their imagination.
Who can see the truth 
through the dense fog of despair you are blowing?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I created you secure and capable,
in kinship and communion with every living being.
I gave you my courage and authority
to live with integrity and goodness.
But we fail to trust you.
We are suspicious of others
and fearful of the world.
We exaggerate our problems
and blame others for them.
We react in cowardly violence,
creating a world of pain.
Your “security” is dividing my people against each other.
Your paranoia scapegoats the innocent,
inspiring surveillance, informants,
and lynch-mobs like the one that crucified me?
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I breathed into being an abundant creation
overflowing with good things for all.
I gave you more than enough time
and resources to live in joy and plenty.
But we convince ourselves that we do not have enough.
We become addicted to consumption,
demand constant excitement,
and leave a trail of waste behind us,
killing what you made simply to enjoy.
You fill yourselves and leave others hungry.
Who can grow in the economy of gluttony you spawn? 
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 
have mercy upon us.

O my people:
I poured into you inventiveness and wonder,
compassion and strength.
I made you real and loved you
beyond reason.
But we hoard goods and knowledge,
hiding our light out of irrational fear,
antagonizing those who get close to us,
and escaping into dark fantasies.
We lose ourselves in superiority and alienation. 
Your absent-minded analysis
leaves my creation depleted.
Who can breathe in the vacuum left by your hoarding? 
When will you turn
and be the blessing I created you to be?
Holy God, 
Holy and mighty, 
Holy immortal One, 

have mercy upon us.

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