Forgive me, Lord, forgive me and do not destroy me with my transgressions; do not be angry with me forever and keep my evils in me, and do not condemn me to the depths of the earth; for you are God, the God of those who repent, and in me you shall show all your goodness…

The above is from the Prayer of Manasses, King of Judah, which we repeat many times during the Great Compline of Lent. This prayer is at the heart of this Service and it’s at the heart of the reclamation of our long, lost humanity. You see, our first parents fell from their true humanity (life as Communion with God) because they didn’t know how to repent. When God asked, “where are you?”, what else was He doing except calling to them to tell Him exactly where they were, what they had done; to repent and come to Him. We know the pattern all too well: We hide, we blame, we separate ourselves from Him, from each other and from our true selves. We’ve made a comfortable life for ourselves outside of Paradise, in the familiar pigpens of our own making.

So, as I was praying that prayer at Great Compline, my mind got stuck on that phrase: for you are God, the God of those who repent. The sad reality of our fallen world, filled with unrepentant Adam and Eve’s, is that we might not even know what is or how to repent! Our whole culture is built upon the nurture and support of our self-absorbed and unrepentant, prodigal selves. Beloved in Christ, we still have a few weeks of Great Lent and perhaps even the great gift of another day in order to “come to ourselves” and to respond to the voice of our Lord calling out to us: Where are you?

• This season is the very school of repentance. So you don’t know what repentance is? No worries!
• Really try to pray every day. Especially add St. Ephraim’s Prayer “to see my own sin…”
• Really try to fast because that opens up the crud that’s been hiding under the false comforts of my stomach.
• Really try to live mercifully. This is only achievable to the extent that we actually fast, pray and place ourselves in the way of receiving our Lord’s mercy.

Finally, come to the Services of this precious Season. They are the very classroom, where, especially if we begin to apply the above “homework”; the words and actions of Repentance are put into our mouths as we find ourselves on our knees, even face down to the ground, repenting before our Lord.

This blessed season gives us the gift of beginning to see ourselves as we really are in the light of Him Who made us, Him Who loves us and Who patiently waits for us to become who we truly are: created to live and to find that true life in Him.

Our God is the God of those who repent. Don’t know how to, or what repentance is? We inherited this ignorance from our first Parents. Behold, The Bridegroom comes (in just a couple weeks!) and He’s even provided “schools” for those who would be ready to meet Him. Beloved, let us respond to His inquiry. Let us apply the blessed “homework” and show up at His schools of repentance.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand… (Romans 13:12a). Read the rest: Fast, Pray, be merciful… especially to yourself, by coming “to school”! We’ve been gifted this day to respond to His call and to become truly human, in Communion with Him.