“My God, who art in the kingdom of Heaven, which is within. I wish you would tell me your name, the real one, I mean. But ‘you’ will do as well as anything. I wish I knew what You were up to. But whatever it is, help me to get through it, please. Though maybe it’s not Your doing; I don’t believe for an instant that what’s going on out there is what You meant.
“I have enough daily bread, so I won’t waste time on that. It isn’t the main problem. The problem is getting it down without choking on it.
“Now we come to forgiveness. Don’t worry about forgiving me right now. There are more important things. For instance: keep the others safe, if they are safe. Don’t let them suffer too much. If they have to die, let it be fast. You might even provide a heaven for them. We need You for that. Hell we can make ourselves.
“I suppose I should say I forgive whoever did this, and whatever they’re doing now. I’ll try, but it isn’t easy.
-Margaret Atwood, “The Handmaid’s Tale” 252
Sometimes the most beautiful thoughts come through fiction, especially in the most bizarre of unreal circumstances. This prayer is from a fictional person in a fictional universe in a fictional dystopian society–but it hits home.
