Dear God, if I am not useful, then of what value am I? Let me not walk through this day simply taking, taking, but let me be a source of support to others.

What an astounding gift it is to realize that you love me unconditionally. What, then, shall I do with this gift? Let me pass it on, loving others, that they may know themselves to be sufficient.

Let me not be a stagnant pond, with no outlet, but a clear and soothing river, flowing to where I am most needed, cooling parched lands.

(Letter #1382)

Dear God, I look at the world as in a fun house mirror, with small things magnified and large things diminished. My perspective is all off. I see the most trivial things as consequential. The source of my wrong thinking is my love of self. I look out at everything through this distorting lens.

Lord, let me see rightly. Let me see the truth about what is large and what is small.

Grant me willingness to accept what I see when the blinders are removed. Thy will be done.

(Letter #1381)

Dear God, I too often live in a world of plans and worries. My mind occupies itself with the spinning clockwork of future stratagems, arranging cascades of response and upcoming decisions. It is exhausting, dear Lord.

Yet this moment overflows itself with moments and events. I breathe. The air shifts. The chair presses against my legs. I feel each of these things and more, if only I notice, if only I live here in this moment. There is plenty right here to occupy my spinning thought.

Lord, let me be filled with the present. Let today crowd out tomorrow.

(Letter #1380)

Dear God, I mouth these words: love, love. Acceptance. Thy will. But how forthrightly do I mean them? In truth, lurking within me even amidst my prayers, is a selfish intent. I say I seek your will, dear Lord, yet always it is on my own terms.

Let me see the unfolding world as complete in itself. Your will is already expressed, regardless of whether I may seek to aid or hinder it. Alignment of my will with yours is of benefit to me, not you, dear Lord.

Lord, when I say, Love, let me mean it to my core. When I abandon my own will, let me do so utterly, with no reserve.

Let me burn my ships in the harbor, dismantle the bridge behind me, burn through my last ounce of fuel! I know and feel your support when my need is stark.

Now, Lord, let me turn my attention to small things and bring the same attitude of desperation. Let me depend upon you completely, even to guide me through the day’s minutiae.

Let me not struggle, no, not even against the gentlest reins.

(Letter #1379)

Dear God, when I call upon you, when I cry out – you always answer. Even silence is a form of answer: it tells me I have all that I need already. A creeping feeling of ease is an answer. Joy is an answer. A new trial or challenge is an answer.

Lord, let me hear all you say to me today. Let me discern all the ways you love me, as flawed as I am.

Good news. Let me pass on the good news. Thy will be done.

(Letter #1378)

Dear God, I say I seek humility. Let me become willing to bear all that this implies.

Let me welcome failure and trial, not with a glum resignation but instead with enthusiasm. Each hardship is a new lesson, new progress.

Let me see the world as filled with opportunities to grow closer to you.

(Letter #1377)

Dear God, uneasy thoughts float through my mind. Misgivings bump against one another like balloons. Have I done enough, prepared enough? Yet these worries are more dull aches than sharp pains.

Lord, if I worry simply because it is my habit to do so, will you then direct my thinking elsewhere? Improve my thought life, O Lord. Bring it into alignment with reality.

Let the dull ache of worry dissipate, let my mind become full of optimism. Let me become eager to do your will today.

(Letter #1376)