Writer’s Prayer

Lord, you know my heart before I do, for in you it has been created. You know my joy and desire, my sadness and fear, and it is you who instills in me this inclination to write it out, you who inspires my songs, my lament and my celebration.

Let your Spirit inspire me again, and always, to write what you would have me share, to describe what you would have me realize, and to explain what you would have me understand. And when my words fail, when they are disordered and poorly chosen, bless the readers so that in spite of my messy page, they will glean what you wish them to find.

In this, and in all things, my gratitude abounds.

Working Toward Seeing

God, make us more like Jesus.
Help us to bear difficulty, pain,
disappointment and sorrow
knowing that in your perfect working and design
you can use such bitter experiences
to shape our characters
and make us more like Christ.
We look with hope for that day
when we shall be wholly like Christ,
because we shall see him as his is.
Amen.

~ St. Ignatius of Antioch