Prayer before Communion

We come to the table, Lord.
Not because our hands are clean —
they still smell
of gold and steel.

We come because we are empty
of the one thing
that cannot be shaped
by ourselves.

The hands that reach for the bread
are the same
that formed the calf
gripped the sword
shut the doors.

Break us
as you broke the bread.

So we may be shared
as it was shared.