Dear God, let me fill this day with positive action. I too often surrender to idleness and complaint. Or worse, worry and conflict. These are all self-indulgent, selfish ways of being.

You have made me, O Lord, you have made this world, you have delivered this day. Am I to squander it all?

Acting selfishly, sitting idly, thinking darkly: this delivers me unto the evening with regret, shame, and remorse.

Guide my thoughts, dear God. Bring me a motive force, impel me to act rightly. Let me be a light today. Let the day close with the knowledge that your will has been done.

Grant me, Lord, the satisfaction that is due an obedient child. Grant me willingness and power to do your bidding today. Let me not pursue my own designs, but yours.

(Letter #962)

Dear God, I say I seek you, but what does this mean? What actions do I take that make it so?

If I am honest, I do little more than wish for you, O Lord. I hope your presence might be felt. But there is little I can point to that constitutes seeking.

Lord, let me be more active in my search for you. Let me stop more frequently to listen for guidance. Let me take action contrary to my instincts more often. Let me submit to spiritual discipline in greater measure.

These are the ways I seek you. Not through passive daydreaming, but through practical action.

I am on an expedition, an explorer for you. Let me not rest idle, hoping the goal might wander over my way. Let me journey towards you. I know all you ask is that I take but one honest step in your direction and you will be there to carry my burden.

Let me step your way.

(Letter #961)

Dear God, if I am to be a being of love, then let me act as such. Let love grow within me and spread from me to all my fellows. Let me act as a loving soul in every situation.

Lord, show me my highest and best use. Let me not expend my energies on selfish trivia, on inconsequential and childish pursuits. Let me act only as you would have me act. Let every step, every movement, every interaction, be according to your will. Let my every word be one you would have me speak.

Let me build your palace according to your design.

Let me be willing to be the worker you require, O Lord. I am tempted in so many ways to sit idle, to gossip, to complain.

But no. Let my way be one of love.

(Letter #960)

Dear God, when I am alone with myself, as I am now, let my thought life be productive. Let it bend to your will. Let it follow your leading. Guide me, that I may not fall into dissolution and idleness. Move me to build with the empty time you deliver to me. I have so many unpursued plans. Given the opportunity to coast, I so easily will take it.

God, grant me the willingness to hear your call. Let me not believe the self-congratulatory voice that tells me how fine I am, how good my intentions are, how piously I behave. For I can bring pride to bear in every nook and cranny of my life.

God, make me right-sized. Let me have an enduring awareness of how imperfect I am.

Today I will have many opportunities to pursue a lower path, or a higher one. I will have the opportunity to be lazy, self-centered, and prideful. I will at the same time have the opportunity to be assiduous, giving, and to seek humility. Let me choose the latter.

Let me act as if I am a better man. Perhaps practice will make it so.

(Letter #959)