Frontispiece from edition of Everyman published by John Sklot c. 1530.

I am every man.
I embody every extreme.
I am the plundered poor.
I am the plunderer.
I am he who treasures and keeps the Word.
I am he who wanders.
I am guarded.
I am he, from whom the guarded must be protected.
I am pure and I am vile.
I am all in one – a complete package.
I am beloved …
I am grateful.
I need and receive grace.
At every punctuation mark of this precious Word,
I see myself.
I identify.
I do so, reluctantly.

God, you have done so, in Jesus, intentionally and redemptively.
Today, I shall rather be plundered than plunder.
I shall prefer to be defrauded than to defraud.
Let me not exalt vileness.
Let me not wander.
May I cherish that which is precious and …
May I live in the grace that is freely given.
Thank you for another day to learn to learn …
To embrace your truth and to be transformed by it.

Of all the people I know,
I most desperately need it.

" The words of the LORD are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times."

"You, O LORD, will keep them;
you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man."

– Psalm 12:6-8 (ESV)