I’m supposed to be doing my Wednesday Worship right now but I’m feeling rather shaken today following the publication of the report into abuse in the Church of England.
It’s not really news to me but as a survivor of several kinds of abuse, not by clergy but by people close to me, the publication of the final report has touched old wounds.
I was let down as a teenager by a vicar who didn’t take my report of abuse seriously, which was painful enough, so I can only imagine how hard it must be like to live with the pain of being abused by those who we should be able to trust most.
In that light, and with the hope that it might help someone, here is a prayer for survivors that I found online:
Come, Holy Spirit, to rest in our broken hearts and tend to our broken lives.Bear us up on wings of eagles when our hope lies crushed below the cross of our past.
Release us from the shame and grieving that hobble our pursuit of joy in our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Comfort our pain.
Help us trust in Christ’s complete victory over evil, so we may endure what we have suffered until that day when all we cannot see and cannot know is finally made clear.
Heal us with a fuller understanding God’s grace, so we may be open to sustenance to continue our recovery.
Help us discern the sure direction of God’s whisper when noise and confusion threaten to send us on mistaken pathways.
Provide us generously with Your counsel, so we may not be lost in a wilderness of sorrow, doubt and despair but, rather, are able to hear over our shoulder which way to go, what way turn to choose, which time to rest and which time to push forward.
We ask in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen