I recently heard about this prayer by Thomas Merton. After reading the prayer a few times I decided to share it here.
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
I know many people who attend church religiously would have a problem with this prayer…a HUGE problem. They would say it lacks faith. They would insist that they DO know where they are going and they DO know they are doing God’s will.
I’m not here to judge anyone, but I am here to tell you that this prayer pretty much sums up exactly where I am these days. And I will go a step further and say that I believe that it takes a lot of faith to trust that you are in the exact place you are supposed to be, and at the exact time.
There is a scripture, Psalm 139:16, that speaks to this point. Here is the verse:
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
If I am to accept the things I cannot change, then I must believe that a Power greater than myself knows exactly what He is doing, and I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and that even though the path to get here is one I wouldn’t wish on anyone, it is the path that was laid out for me before the beginning of time and I am good with that. In fact, I am better than good (most days) because it keeps me in a place of serenity and peace and that is an amazing place to be.
Thank you, Thomas Merton, for the reminder.
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