Circles and ashes

A litany of confession and pardon from Ash Wednesday. . .

We confess that the circle of love is repeatedly broken because of our sin of exclusion.
We create separate circles:  the inner circle and the outer circle, the circle of power and the circle of despair, the circle of privilege and the circle of deprivation.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us.

We confess that the circle of love is broken whenever there is alienation, whenever there is misunderstanding, whenever there is insensitivity or a hardening of heart.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us.

We confess that the circle of love is broken whenever we cannot see eye to eye,
whenver we cannot link hand to hand, whenever we cannot live heart to heart and affirm our differences.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have sinned against us.

Through God's grace we are fogiven, by the mercy of our Creator, through the love of Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.