Thursday, December 11, 2008

Missed Merton

I missed this, what with my floundering attempts to be responsible, but evidently yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the passing of Thomas Merton.

His most well-knwon prayer, and a favorite of mine:

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.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Fascinating. I never heard of Merton, yet I have been living his prayer for the last couple of years.

Amen.