We begin this day with a confession:

A confession that we have been occupied,

Taken over and utterly owned

By things that demand our focus.

We recognize

that the space we hold sacred,

The space we long to leave open for you;

We have allowed that space

to become occupied 

By invaders of every kind.

We push back,

But in all the wrong ways.

We have lost control,

So we try to reclaim it,

But we do this for ourselves, 

And foolishly,

We try to occupy you.

We try to contort you and fit you 

Into the small crevices we have created. 

We make you another object in our lives, 

Rather than the subject

we are governed by. 

We hold conversations about you 

Because those are conversations

we can control 

When we feel like we are not in control.

Holy God, 

let our conversations about you 

Become conversations with you. 

Let our grip be loosened

so that you may occupy us. 

Find your way into

the secret spaces of our lives again, 

Overflowing and overthrowing 

The parasitic invaders

we have so easily surrendered to. 

Be our space invader, 

The only occupier that offers freedom.

Amen.