Monday, December 29, 2008

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless you with discomfort,
at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger,
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears,
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their
pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness,
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done
to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor

Amen.

This poem is a Franciscan Benediction found in Phillip Yancey's book "Prayer".

2 comments:

Cecilia said...

Please to meet you Pete... thanks for commenting over at my place.

Your blog is VERY cool. I will be back.

Pax, C.

digitaldion (Dion Forster) said...

A great encouragement and reminder - I used it in my devotions this morning. It was very meaningful at the start of the new year.

Rich blessing for the year ahead!

Together with you in Christ,

Dion