Street Psalm: Pry Me Off Dead Center

This poetic psalm from the street comes from Ted Loder, a pastor from urban Philadelphia, and his book Guerillas of Grace - Prayers for the Battle:

O persistent God,
deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.
Pressure me that I may grow more human,
     not through the lessening of my struggles,
     but through an expansion of them
     that will undamn me
     and unbury my gifts
Deepen my hurt
     until I learn to share it
     and myself
     openly,
     and my needs honestly.
Sharpen my fears
     until I name them
     and release the power I have locked in them
     and they in me.
Accentuate my confusion
     until I shed those grandiose expectations
     that divert me from the small, glad gifts
     of the now and the here and the me.
Expose my shame where it shivers,
     crouched behind the curtains of propriety,
     until I can laugh at last
     through my common frailties and failures,
     laugh my way toward becoming whole.
Deliver me
     from just going through the motions
     and wasting everything I have
     which is today,
         a chance
             a choice
                 my creativity,
                        your call.
O, persistent God,
     let how much it all matters
     pry me off dead center
     so if I am moved inside
          to tears
             or sighs
                 or screams
                       or smiles
                             or dreams,
they will be real
and I will be in touch with whom I am
and who you are
and who my sisters and brothers are.
++