August 13, 2026
The Mercy of Older Words
An ancient prayer from Clement of Rome for forgiveness, peace, forgiveness.
Prayer is not an escape hatch from the world. In the older Christian writers, it is usually the opposite: a way of standing still long enough for God to tell the truth about the world and about us.
The old words are not museum pieces. They are tools with worn handles. Pick them up.
Source boundary: this post reflects on For Rulers and Governors, attributed in the corpus to the Christian prayer tradition. No outside sources used.