I've been letting anxiety get the better of me a little (a lot?) more than usual recently. And really, this has got to stop. When I was talking about this with a good friend, she mentioned that, lately, she has been making an effort to pray when anxiety starts to overcome her. She asks God to help her hand over the situation, to guide her words and actions.
Good advice.
But I don't want to pray that prayer from the 70s posters. To be honest, I find that prayer a little arrogant.
As Father Cavanagh says in the movie Rudy, "I have come up with only two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I'm not him."
Better to pray that God will guide me through a situation. I prefer this prayer, attributed to Father Mychal Judge, OFM, who perished in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center:
Lord, take me where you want me to go;
Let me meet who you want me to meet;
Tell me what you want me to say, and
Keep me out of your way.
There's only one thing I may need to add to that: "Keep my foot out of my mouth."
Amen.
6 comments:
There's something akin to keeping one's foot out of one's mouth in the psalms. "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!"
I love your add on - that's the one that slips me up sometimes.
I love this post - I'm a very anxious person myself - I really need this shot in the spiritual arm!
I always enjoy readomg your blog and feel that you are one who is deserving of the I Blog Jesus Award. I received the award yesterday from Kari and would like to pass it one to you! Enjoy--and if possible, pass it on to a few of the bloggers whose works you enjoy. You can get the icon and a link to the other blogs I chose from my blog. http://franciscanlife.blogspot.com
I'm partial to a combination of 12 step prayer and St. Francis de Sales - a potent combination - "Thy will be done, Lord not mine" or "Any good that comes today, let it be done for your glory; any ill, let is help me grown in holiness" - that last one is paraphrased from my buddy, patron saint of writers, the elegant St Frances de Sales. Good luck and prayers for you! Let peace be with you, Barb
I love Fr. Judge's prayer because it's so similar to the one I've prayed for years: "Lord, make me who you want me to be, and keep me outta the way while you're at it." :-P
(My other one is, "Lord, keep me from being a dumba$$." I pray that'un constantly!)
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