A Prayer

A PRAYER

Let me do my work each day;

And if the darkened hours of despair overcome me,

May I not forget the strength that comforted me

In the desolation of other times.

May i still remember the bright hours that found me

Walking over the silent hills of my childhood,

Or dreaming on the margin of the quiet river,

When a light glowed within me,

And I promised my early God to have courage

Amid the tempests of the changing years.

Spare me from bitterness

And from the sharp passions of unguarded moments.

May i not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit,

Though the world know me not,

May my thoughts and actions be such

As shall keep me friends with myself.

Lift my eyes from the earth,

And let me not forget the uses of the stars.

Forbid that i should judge others,

Lest I condemn myself.

Let me not follow the clamor of the world,

But walk calmly in my path.

Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am;

And keep ever burning before my vagrant steps

The kindly light of hope.

And though age and infinity overtake me,

And i come not within sight of the castle of my dreams,

Teach me still to be thankful for life,

And for time's olden memories that are good and sweet;

And may the evening's twilight find me gentle still.

-Max Ehrmann