A Favorite Prayer

 On this bleak, rainy Oregon day in May, I carry this prayer with me in my heart.

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 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 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 perils alone.

(Thomas Merton)