Dear God, what shall I renounce?

The time I spend in selfish pursuits? The energy I squander planning trivial victories? The poison words I speak as I judge others?

Lord, make my way to right living easy. Make me ready to renounce what keeps me from you.

(Letter #1,602)

Dear God, what is to be my offering? You shower me with grace, undeserved favor and ease, gifts beyond reckoning.

Lord, let my gratitude be a living thing, no mere words. Let it be tangible.

Let me do your will today with a smile of joy. Let love be my working song.

(Letter #1,601)

Dear God, the dawn greets me; what shall I carry with me this day?

Let me leave behind earlier burdens. They are not needed.

The sun shines. Today, let me reflect your light into every corner.

(Letter 1,600)

Dear God, let me draw near to you.

When beset by daily events, when my thoughts are filled with plans and duties, I set these aside only with great difficulty and reluctance. The world crowds you out.

Lord, let me sweep aside all these busy thoughts. Leave a clearing for me, that I may step into your sunshine and rest.

(Letter 1,599)

Dear God, as I consider the day, goal after goal comes to mind. Trivial task upon trivial task. My thoughts are filled with striving and grasping.

Even the lessons you teach me, Lord, I wish them to be presented as accomplishments. I wish for great trial so I may persevere and prideful he display faith.

O Lord! Let me be gentle. Let me be kind. Let me look upon myself with compassion. You are enough, let me tell myself. You already have what you need.

Let desire slip away from me. There are no empty spaces to fill, for you, Lord, are in my heart already.

(Letter 1,598)

Dear God, I strain to feel your presence. I recall days I felt you near. Where has this awareness gone?

I sit in secret, planning how I will conquer the day. I know I am in the trance of illusion, yet I find it difficult to awaken.

Lord, you love even those farthest from you. Let me have willingness that you love me equally. Let me have willingness to awaken to your power.

I seek a road that leads to you, Lord. Yet even were I on it, fear I would not know.

O Lord, open my eyes and heart.

(Letter #1,597)

Dear God, I sit here, deep inside my dwelling place, and I monitor my every feeling. Alternate clouds of worry and relief drift; I see clearly each one. I feel my feet on the ground, the air on my skin. My seat presses up against me.

O! So aware am I of all these facets of self. Yet do I act with love for the world? Is there a message I carry? Too seldom, too little, are my answers.

Lord, awaken my actions. If I am to become familiar with self, let it be to helpful purpose. Let me be useful to you and my fellows today.

If I root my attention in this moment, I am spared useless worry. I have the freedom of presence.

Let me devote these discovered moments toward labors of gratitude, Lord. Let this still time prepare me to act.

(Letter #1,596)

Dear God, let me see the abundance already around me. Let me walk cheerfully through the woods today, hearing birdsong and smelling the earth.

How small yesterday’s worries now appear! Let me view today’s troubles from tomorrow’s vantage point. These, too, will shrink to nothing. Tomorrow I will forget what pains me today.

So let me spread cheer, dear Lord. I already live among your bounty.

(Letter #1,595)

Dear God, I blind myself with my own self-regard.

On awakening, I think about my desires for the day. As I walk your pathways, I distract myself, digressing into needless pursuits – while my duties go undone.

Where are my thoughts of you? Where has my devotion gone?

Lord, rule my thoughts. It is my thinking that takes me away from you, and leaves me here, alone and lonely.

Rebuild my foundations, Lord! I have too long been walking on sand.

(Letter #1,594)

Dear God, need I wait for your aid? Surely not if I am your child. You created me with all the capabilities I may need. And yet I wait, in the face of worry, hoping for rescue.

Lord, let me stand erect under your sunshine. Let me be, fully, whom you have built and called me to be.

Others look to me today for guidance. I fear the role. Let me approach them with compassion. Let me seek to be useful today.

Grant me awareness, Lord, of the capabilities I already possess.

(Letter #1,593)