Dear God, this day stretches before me, equally long as yesterday’s journey. Why, Lord, am I sometimes weary and other times exhilarated? I have the same portion each day.

Ever before, you have brought me to day’s end and bid me rest. At dawn, my faith is an impostor. I imagine I must carry a burden along this road, and I wonder from whence the strength will come. Were my faith true, I would know with assurance that I will be supplied. No matter the task, I would face it knowing I was its equal.

Yet instead I fret and pray. Is that what you wish for your child, a life begging for scraps of capability?

Let my heart quicken. Let me run along the road, holding nothing back for later. When spent, let me nap like a baby, arise, and run on, laughing.

Sweet Lord, I know you watch me play, bemused while I show off my feats of balance and tiny abilities. Let me live as your child today.

(Letter #1,533)

Dear God, grant me strength to buoy others. Let me not hoard your treasure for myself.

As I give, you bestow upon me. Let me direct this infinite power toward the benefit of others.

Let my small aims wither. Burn away my self-regard. Thy will be done.

(Letter #1,532)

Dear God, I have so long taken step after step as if in the dream, only waking occasionally. I blink and look around. How did I get here? Later, and fresh surroundings, I stop, blink, and ask again: And how did I get here, too?

Looking back each time I see faintly the trail of my footfalls. That must be where I walked, yet I remember not.

Lord, let me be awake for each step today, yea, even the most ordinary doings. You are with me at exalted times, at difficult times – and also at the most tedious times. Let me be awake to your presence persistently, constantly.

(Letter #1,531)

Dear God, streams of cool water flow beside me, available to me in my weariness. So many streams, each itself fed by one smaller, tributary and branch.

Lord, I seek your aid and support – and it comes from so many quarters.

Yet I walk on, blind to the relief available to me if I but look a little more closely. Finally I am spent, and sit. Immobile, I can see the cool water trickling around me.

Open my eyes, dear Lord. I await rescue, but you have already delivered all I need and more.

(Letter #1,530)

Dear God, faced with the most routine of tasks, I become fearful. I feel alone, facing armies who wish me ill.

In truth, it may be I who strike fear in others without knowing it. Let me be a friend to all today.

Bend my words and deeds to your will.

(Letter #1,529)

Dear God, I am like a blade on the whetstone. I am being honed, daily sharper. Each pass reveals a keener edge, by removing what is unnecessary.

For what do you prepare me, dear Lord? Am I to be used in the making of a great feast? The assembly of a sturdy chair? A child’s box?

Thank you, dear God, for the gift of persistence. Ever more sharp, let me become your instrument.

(Letter 1,528)

Dear God, if I stand still, I can hear the forest grow around me. The new leaves unfurl, new shoots press aside the soil to see light. I am one of many still growing.

What a miracle it is to look the world in the eye with equanimity!

Only yesterday, I blinked and looked away. Today my feet root into the ground and my face is mild. The wind blows my hair yet I do not turn my head.

O sweet Lord, let my roots grow stronger as the wind builds. You strengthened me yesterday for today’s storm.

(Letter #1,527)