Dear God, today let me be a beacon. Fill me with love, that I might shine it upon others. I have too long been preoccupied with my own cares and worries, casting my gaze only upon myself. Let me today seek to understand and love those around me. Let your warmth flow and bathe my fellows.

Let me take every opportunity to serve. Let me be an obedient worker, a caring friend, a faithful servant, a loving partner. Today let my higher self have dominance over my lower, selfish aspects.

Thy will be done.

(Letter #912)

Dear God, let me have a positive attitude today. For too long I have viewed my days as being filled with trials and difficulty. But in truth, this is a fiction. A story I tell myself.

In fact, my day to day existence is filled with moments and experiences I should see as joyful. I have a family that loves me, work that is fulfilling, enough resources to thrive today and tomorrow.

My troubles, so-called, have to do with my attitude: I am despondent because I do not get what I want or have diminished status among my fellows. I am anxious because some negative interaction might take place that causes me discomfort. I am angry because someone does not show me respect I think I deserve.

None of these are real – all stories. Stories in which I cast myself in the role of victim.

Today, Lord, let me tell myself the story of redemption, of thriving, of love. Let me pass on this tale to others.

Thy will be done today.

(Letter #911)

Dear God, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by what appears to be an insurmountable to-do list, containing tasks I do not know whether or how to manage. The reality, though, is usually that what challenges I face are in fact well within my capacity – and that there is one among them that generates fear. Maybe I have to speak publicly, or perform in front of a superior. Or the task is in some other way a high-stakes one.

When faced with such things, like today, I feel besieged. The looming challenge blots out everything else. I cannot be effective, I can barely bring myself to think of anything else.

Lord, I cannot live like this, flitting from worry to worry. Let me please have an attitude of obedience and service. Let me bend every ounce of my will toward doing your bidding – let this displace the selfish worrying about my performance. Let me seek and do your will today, and let this become my freedom from bondage.

I am enslaved by my fears, but they are self-generated. Take them away. Heal my thinking.

(Letter #910)

Dear God, I take note of all the things happening in my body. The feeling of pressure under my seat. The temperature of the room on my skin. The feeling of air filling my lungs as I breathe.

Lord, this present moment is a safe haven. When I worry about the future I succeed only in disturbing the present. Let me be grateful for this moment in which I find myself. Let me honor it as a gift from you. Let me attend to it, indeed, let me cultivate it.

The future will come. All I have is now. How dare I squander it? Let me be worthy of the peace you deliver.

(Letter #909)

Dear God, grant me strength. I feel diminished in the face of all I ought to do today. Walk with me, Lord. Take my hand and guide me. Let me have the willingness to do your will without shirking or shying away.

Fill my mouth with the right words, guide my feet on the right path, move my hands toward the right ends, bend my thoughts toward the right aims.

Take away my selfish will. Let me act as you would have me do.

(Letter #908)

Dear God, sometimes I feel I live in a constant state of preparation, awaiting some time in the future when I will have those virtues I now seek, when those defects with which I now struggle will have been removed. I am seeking now for improvement later.

Lord, let me see today for the gift it is. Let me recognize that I live in the present, that I am not in rehearsal. The show is on.

It is the exerting of virtues, the struggle against defects, that is the stuff of my life. Let me, Lord, bring true effort into today’s spiritual tasks. Let me express today my higher self.

(Letter #907)

Dear God, how shall I best serve you today? I have plans to be a productive and helpful person. Let me not hold on too tightly to my agenda. Let me seek and hear your guidance throughout the day.

Today, Lord, let me not be smug. When I act as I ought, when I fulfill my obligations, I get such a prideful sense of satisfaction. I want to tell people of my good works, when I am only doing my duty.

Today, Lord, let me labor in secret, doing what I ought for no other reason than that this is what you require of me.

Let me be anonymous, unheralded. Let me seek no attention and avoid the limelight. Let me just be one among many, a worker among workers.

Thy will be done.

(Letter #906)

Dear God, you allow me to go through the day, if I so wish, under the illusion that I am alone in this world, that I alone must address the tasks and challenges placed before me. What a burden this way of thinking is. I have only finite energy, yet it takes almost constant effort to live this way.

Lord, you have shown me a better way. The truth is that you are there with me, if I only but seek you. You place all of the pieces in my life, and provide the power and energy needed in exact supply. There is always enough.

Lord, you are a source of abundance. I need but see it all around me.

Thank you for opening my eyes to your loving presence and your power. Let me avail myself of it. Let me not shut myself off from you by obstinately placing myself at the center of everything.

My experience has been that, if I try to do your will, if I seek to know your will, if I exert myself on behalf of those around me — that I feel your presence. Let me view any sense of fatigue I have as a reminder that you are the one with the power. Let it remind me to seek you.

Grant me eyes to see, ears to hear. You are present. Let me touch you.

(Letter #905)

Dear God, so many things that used to cause me worry and vexation have long since dissipated. Little by little, you address my woes and take away my troubles. Now, I can barely recall those things that previously agitated me and consumed my attention. They seem to be from another life.

Lord, this is perhaps the greatest gift I have received. My trials became lessons. This happened slowly, over time.

You rarely visit me in dramatic fashion. When you parted the Red Sea, you did not do it cinematically. It happened overnight, not all at once. The problem receded – it did not vanish.

Dear Lord, let me trust that such will be the case for that which troubles me today. Yesterday’s worries have faded. Today’s will too. Let me therefore thank you with a glad heart for all I face today. Let me be grateful for my trials.

Whether I address them directly, and so discover inner resources, or whether you remove them slowly, so I rediscover your power, they have all been delivered by you. Just for me. Let me see them through eyes of love. Let your will be done today and all days.

(Letter #904)

Dear God, let me apply myself today. I have tasks to do and would like to avoid them – let me not shirk my responsibilities. Keeping an orderly life is one way I express gratitude for how you saved me from dissolution and dissipation. I honor you by organizing that which I used to allow to fall into chaos. I arrange things around me such that I can expend effort on your behalf.

Let me not be slothful. Let me not be self-centered. Let me direct my efforts to the fulfillment of your dictates. Grant me discernment to know what those are. Grant me power to follow your bidding.

(Letter #903)