A liturgy for making language flubs.
O, Maker who spoke the universe into being;
to the One who healed with a word;
whose speech stirred hearts to wonder anew;
who celebrates in song:
We come.
We come bringing our past language learning;
we come bringing our fears of messing up;
we come bringing our hesitation and our nerves;
we come bringing our focus on ourselves:
We receive.
We receive Your grace for our mistakes;
we receive Your humor when we have none;
we receive Your focus on the other;
we receive Your gift of trying again:
We give.
We give up our pride for the humility of a learner;
we give the gift of shouldering the burden of understanding;
we give our words and ideas, our thoughts and ideals;
we give grace to all, including ourselves:
We learn.
We learn that all is not lost when misunderstandings come;
we learn that we can laugh, with others too;
we learn that the flubs create some of the best opportunities for learning to root deep; we learn that broken speech doesn’t sum up a person’s worth:
We rejoice.
Rejoice in the learning;
rejoice in the giving;
rejoice in the growth;
rejoice in the journey.
O, Maker who spoke the universe into being:
speak knowledge and understanding into being for us.
To the One who healed with a word:
heal our wounds, our pride, our embarrassment.
To the One whose speech stirred hearts to wonder anew:
stir our hearts to wonder too.
To the One who celebrates in song:
may we join the nations to sing along with You.
We will try again.
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