Monday, November 29, 2004

Continuing the giving of thanks

God, we give you thanks for the bread and the meat, for the shelter of house and the warmth of clothing, for daily work and thoughtful friends, and reasonable margins of security and comfort. Yet others of your children starve, homeless and hopeless, with no sign of human caring, fearing tomorrow more than death. If we do nothing for them, then leave us without your blessing until we learn the ways of mercy. Deliver us from the gross sin of indifference, and make our blessings holy and special to us precisely to the degree that we share them. Amen.
(adapted from Samuel H. Miller, Prayers for Daily Use (New York: Harper & Bros, 1957), p.120)

(Who's this Samuel Miller guy? Learn more here.)

2 comments:

sic said...

Wow... Dangerous prayer...

Peter said...

I've often pondered the Biblical phrase, "My ways are not your ways..."; this prayer throws the quote into sharp focus.

P.