bedtime prayer of forgiveness

YOU, my ETERNAL FRIEND,

WITNESS now that I forgive anyone who hurt or upset me or who offended me-

damaging my body, my property, my reputation or damaging people that I love--

whether by accident or purposely--

with words, deeds, thoughts or attitudes.

I forgive every person who has hurt or upset me.
May no one be punished because of me.

May no one suffer from karmic consequences for hurting or upsetting me.
Help me, Eternal Friend, to keep from offending You and others.

Help me to be thoughtful and not commit outrage by doing what is evil in Your eyes.
Whatever sins I have committed, blot out, please, in Your abundant kindness,

and spare me suffering or harmful illnesses.

Help me become aware of the ways

I may have unintentionally or intentionally hurt others,

and please give me guidance and strength to rectify those hurts ---

and to develop the sensitivity to not continue acting in a hurtful way.

Let me forgive others,

let me forgive myself--

but also let me change in ways that make it easy for me

to avoid paths of hurtfulness to others.

I seek peace, let me BE peace.

I seek justice, let me be just.

I seek a world of kindness, let me be kind.

I seek a world of generosity, let me be generous with all that I have.

I seek a world of sharing, let me share all that I have.

I seek a world of giving, let me be giving to all around me.

I seek a world of love-- let me be loving beyond all reason,

beyond all normal expectation,

beyond all societal frameworks that tell me how much love is "normal," -

beyond all fear that giving too much love will leave me with too little.

And let me be open and sensitive to all the love that is already coming to me,

the love of people I know,

the love that is part of the human condition,

the accumulated love of past generations that flows through

and is embodied in the language,

music, recipes, technology, literature, religions, agriculture,

and family heritages that have been passed on to me and to us.

Let me pass that love on to the next generations in an even fuller

and more explicit way.

Source of goodness and love in the universe,

let me be alive to all the goodness that surrounds me.

And let that awareness of the goodness and love of the universe

be my shield and protector.
Hear the words of my mouth and may the meditations of my heart find acceptance before You, Eternal Friend, who protects and frees me.

Amen.