 Let us pray God we come to weep as sisters of tamar must have wept we come to mourn as Brothers of Dyna felt urged to mourn We come at this moment An assembly invited and summoned to hear to remember and to know together the wrongdoing and harm done For too long this wrongdoing has been silenced carving chambers of isolation For too long this wrongdoing has been the source of deep sorrow and fear For too long this wrongdoing has generated a tempest threatening to overwhelm For too long this wrongdoing has festered fueling disillusionment and despair Help us as we bring to utterance what has been silenced Help us as we hear what we wish that there had never been need to hear Help us as we confess wrong and harm done Help us as we grieve what has been lost Let the telling ease the persistent ache and end the awful secrets Let the hearing begin to open the cell doors of isolation In truth telling stand with us In listening hear with us that we might be remembered with one another Enter with us into this space between telling and listening in the midst of confession Apology and commitment Accomplish in the space what we have failed to accomplish be present with us as truth be present with us as Compassion be present with us as our guardian Through Christ. Oh God hear my prayer. I Trust in you give ear to my petition and rescue me You alone can help me Deliver me from my abuser God of mercy hear my plea. I am being destroyed. I Feel abandoned and lonely There is no safety No one to protect me There is no one to entrust with my secret My abuser speaks eloquently of peace and justice Well, I weep angry tears of betrayal He walks the halls with confidence While I am fearful of being seen I Feel his eyes on me when I sleep and when I rise My dreams are filled with anxiety and fear My spirit is full of anguish Where can I go to escape his advances? When I go to class, I feel his presence like a cloud of darkness hovering over me When I retreat to my home, he comes knocking His words smooth as silk Overtake me. I am powerless in his hands. I am being stripped of my honor and dignity Do you care God? I cry to you for help. My silence rages against your silence Where is the peace and justice your prophets proclaim? I cry to you for protection, but he comes again Protect me from my abuser Let death take him from me. Let him face justice for his evil work This is my only hope for help Let my powerlessness rise up as inner strength to stand against the evil done against me God of hope, can you hear me? Touch my tear-stained face and heal my wounded spirit There is no peace No justice Why do you not speak to me? I wait in silence