A simple and profound prayer for Lent that comes from the Eastern Orthodox tradition follows:O Lord and Master of my life, keep from me the spirit of indifference and discouragement, lust of power and idle chatter.
Instead, grant to me, your servant, the spirit of wholeness of being, humble-mindedness, patience, and love.
O Lord and King grant me the grace to be aware of my sins and not to judge my brother; for you are blessed now and ever and forever. Amen. [St. Ephrem the Syrian]
This simple prayer begins with four things we need to avoid: laziness, negativity, a wrong attitude toward other people, and purposeless and mean-spirited talk. This is a pretty cut-to-the-chase list of attitudes and actions that can make us really bad human beings. Each of these dispositions or habits destroys the positive and good qualities that we as humans possess. They quickly make others around us miserable, and in the end, make us miserable as well.
The prayer continues with four positive attitudes and actions to adopt more regularly: a whole-mindedness, having an open heart, patience and love. These positive elements that we can choose to practice are the antidotes to the negative objects above. Laziness results from a lack of vision and energy, a refusal to look at the big picture and an inability to see the whole. A broader vision allows us to have a more open heart to others, accomplishing what Ezekiel prophesied by turning our cold, stony hearts into new and refreshed hearts.
Two last things the prayer also emphasizes. 1) I don’t know about you, but I am always able to identify the faults of others more quickly than I am able to see my own faults. We are cautioned to be careful about this! 2) We know that this is not a project we can carry out alone. We need the help of God’s grace, and must remember to reach out and ask for this mercy and love as we try to focus on what really matters.
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