Last year, Jimmy led a Lambda Night Prayer on the topic of vocations. He collected a couple of short prayers, both of which I hadn’t heard before. As I’m working on the Kraft Paperwork Reduction Act of 2003 (I’ll explain in a second), I ran across the sheet. It is posted on here mostly for my sake- so I have access to it in a known, stable location. However, they can be very fruitful prayers so public they go.
The Kraft Paperwork Reduction Act is this thing a friend of mine from MIT and I discussed in January 2003. The idea was I would start eliminating paper for my life- keep class notes online (scanned if I had to), only use paper for papers when required by the professor, etc. I haven’t been even trying for the past six months but looking around my room, I notice that I have more paper and books than literally anything else. I won’t be doing anything at all to the books, but all this stray paper needs some help.
With that, the prayers:
Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself.
And the fact that I think 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 that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead my by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, I will 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 stuggles alone.
Vocation Prayer for Discernment
God, I know you love me an d have great plans for me. But sometimes I am overwhelmed by the thought of my future. Show me how to walk forward one day at a time.
May I take heart while I search openly, learn about all the choices, listen to others for advice, and pay attention to my own feelings. By doing these things, may I hear your call to a lifestyle and a career that will let me love as only I can, and let me serve others with the special gifts that you have given me.
Amen.
The Kraft Paperwork Reduction Act is this thing a friend of mine from MIT and I discussed in January 2003. The idea was I would start eliminating paper for my life- keep class notes online (scanned if I had to), only use paper for papers when required by the professor, etc. I haven’t been even trying for the past six months but looking around my room, I notice that I have more paper and books than literally anything else. I won’t be doing anything at all to the books, but all this stray paper needs some help.
With that, the prayers:
Prayer of Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself.
And the fact that I think 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 that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead my by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, I will 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 stuggles alone.
Vocation Prayer for Discernment
God, I know you love me an d have great plans for me. But sometimes I am overwhelmed by the thought of my future. Show me how to walk forward one day at a time.
May I take heart while I search openly, learn about all the choices, listen to others for advice, and pay attention to my own feelings. By doing these things, may I hear your call to a lifestyle and a career that will let me love as only I can, and let me serve others with the special gifts that you have given me.
Amen.
