SAY ALOUD
A group would repeat each of these lines from psalm 139 after the leader:

  • You knit me in my mother's womb.
  • I praise you for I am wonderfully made,
  • wonderful are your works. (Ps 139:13-14, adapted)

THE MEDITATION
Consider your very early life, the time before you heard anyone say what you could and could not do, before anyone criticized you for what you looked like, how you spoke, what you did. . . . Go back to any early age when you felt free to be yourself . . . a time when you were uninhibited and lacked fear of criticism . . .
Visualize yourself as this alert, happy child, at ease with life . . .
See yourself free from self-judgment and judgment of others . . .
You are unconcerned about what others think of you . . .
Your whole being is alive with wonder, embracing sounds, colors, shapes, full of trust . . .
All of who you are is eager to enter each moment, unafraid of failing cultural standards . . .
Rest in this freedom of judgment.
Sink into the space where there is no criticism, only loving acceptance and kindness.
Let yourself be held in this cradle of well-being.
Imagine that you are held by the Divine Beloved, as a parent holds a child with tenderness.

SAY ALOUD

  • You knit me in my mother's womb.
  • I praise you for I am wonderfully made,
  • wonderful are your works.

THE MEDITATION
Now picture yourself as you are in your adult life.
Remember the part of you that voices self-criticism and finds fault with yourself.
What are some of the judgmental messages that you give yourself?
Recall several words you use when making those judgments. Visualize the Holy One erasing those words.
In place of them you see these words: "You are filled with goodness."

Pause to meditate.
Breathing in: "Goodness in me." Breathing out: "I trust this goodness."

SAY ALOUD

  • You knit me in my mother's womb.
  • I praise you for I am wonderfully made,
  • wonderful are your works.

Close by placing your hands over your heart. Thank the Holy One for accepting and welcoming you with unconditional love.

— Joyce Rupp in Prayers of Boundless Compassion