Sleepless Nights and Busy Days

The world seems to be swirling… each day a new story, a new wrinkle, a new worry. Regardless of whether you are cheering or concerned, joyful or angry, the current speed of change and the lack of clear discernable direction leaves most of us unsettled. We feel like the disciples in the boat, tossed about by waves and wind, with land nowhere in sight. That day, the disciples woke Jesus, who was asleep in the stern. They challenged him- “Don’t you care if we drown?” Many wonder today where God is amid our chaos. That day, Jesus called the disciples ‘O ye of little faith,’ but at least they knew to turn to Jesus. Perhaps, we should follow their lead. I offer three prayers to give voice to our cry:

Prayer of St. Patrick
As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

Serenity Prayer- Reinhold Niebuhr
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time.
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that he will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever.  

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

We often think of prayer as our call to move God to action. But God uses prayer to move us, change us, inspire and shape us into God’s instruments of grace for the world God so loves.

With you as clay in the Potter’s hands,
Anita