Lead me from Death to Life, from Falsehood to Truth
There are dark and painful times
when I know a dying inside,
a dying of the soul perhaps,
when all my spiritual energy is drained,
when I have nothing left to give.
I need to find the strength
to move from these times
to choose life, to affirm life,
to begin to feel
once again fully human, fully alive.
There are sad and painful times
when I cannot be wholly honest.
when I am too weak to be willing to speak out,
when I compromise my feelings rather than face a person honestly,
when I fudge and blur lines which I know to be clear and straight.
I need to find the strength
to hold on tightly to what I know is true,
to speak the truth even though I risk hurting others,
to be more open and honest even though I risk being hurt.
Lead me O God towards Life and Truth.
Lead me from Despair to Hope from Fear to Trust.
There are dark and painful times
when I am filled with despair,
I sit in meetings where people do not listen to each other
or I hear politicians mouthing empty words about things for which I care deeply,
and I realise my powerlessness and I am overwhelmed by despair.
I need to have my hope rekindled,
to share with others in the sowing of seeds of hope,
to work with others in nurturing hope,
to witness with others the growing signs of hope,
to carry with me a strong vision of hope.
There are dark and painful times
when I am filled with fear,
I stand and witness for peace
close to the razor wires of a military base,
close to the silos which hold the weapons that are able to destroy our world
and I am overwhelmed by fear.
I need to break through the frozenness of my fear,
to help others break through the many different barriers of fear.
I need to be trusted,
and I need to find the simple trust of the child who puts her hand into mine.
I need to be willing to risk reaching out to the soldier behind that wire,
willing to risk my trust.
Lead me O God towards hope and trust,
Lead me from Hate to Love, from War to Peace.
There are sad and painful times
when my despair and anger become hate.
When the Government orders a peaceful site of protest demolished.
I found myself so angry that I hated the men who had done it.
It is hard sometimes not to hate those
whose views and actions are different from mine,
whose views and actions fill me with fear, despair and anger.
I need to find the strength to turn away from hating towards love.
I need to open my heart
to the pervading power of the loving spirit that connects all people.
Although I may disagree with he views and actions of the politician
or the soldier,
I need to respect, to cherish and to love the person.
There are dark and painful times
when the inevitability and the imminence of the threat may lead to war.
I have not experienced war,
but I have known conflict and the paralysis of fear in the face of conflict.
At the moment when I am confronted with violence
I need to unfreeze my heart and mind,
to allow peace to enter in,
for hope and trust to be reborn.
I need to be empowered by that of God in me.
Lead me O God towards Love and Peace.
Let peace fill our hearts our world our universe.
Peace begins with me.
I must start with my own heart and mind.
I need to practice the skills necessary for living in a world at peace,
the skills needed to avoid or resolve conflicts.
The place to begin my work is in my own home,
in my personal relationship, in my place of work, in my church,
Peace begins with me.
and works outward,
nurtured by the pervading power of the loving Spirit
which connects all people.
Lead me O God.
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