Forgive Us Our Trespasses

The prayer that Jesus himself taught us, The Lord's Prayer, has become so familiar that we often repeat it from rote and finish it without ever adverting to what we have just said. It's not that "familiarity breeds contempt", but rather familiarity breeds inattention. A key concept near the end of the prayer can be as easily overlooked as much as the all-important litany of praise of God before we come to the "us" part of the prayer: our daily bread...yes, we always need something and that might catch our attention, but before we know it we're "amening it" and getting on to the day's activities.
In preparation for Lent, and our Lenten confession, it might be a good time to start looking at the forgiveness we need and the forgiveness we need to give to others. The prayer presumes that this is a part of our everyday life, as is the need for our daily bread. No one escapes this aspect of life. Pulling aside the sentence, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" and taking time to reflect on it, is not only humbling, but gives us a pattern to follow in seeking amends to those we have offended, and being open to the apologies of those who have offended us. Lord, help me to acknowledge my sinfulness, humble receive your mercy and be forgiving and merciful to others. Amen.
Bro. Rene