A Thousand Glad Answers

You speak words of promise,
and we answer.
A thousand times we answer,
in a thousand tongues--
we answer in hymns of praise,
we answer in songs of thanksgiving,
we answer in lyrics of gladness,
we answer in candor about hurt,
we answer in abrasive anger,
we answer in deep abandonment.

We answer and draw close to you.
And in answering we are changed:
given freedom,
come to truth,
bound in obedience.

We answer and are yours, all yours,
not our own,
yours, and
glad that we belong to
you our faithful savior.

(a prayer by Walter Brueggemann, from his book, Prayers for a Privileged People, p. 169)