A Prayer From History

Disturb us Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

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Disturb us Lord, when

With the abundance of things we posses

We have lost our thirst for the water of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

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Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wilder seas

Where storms will show Your mastery

Where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

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We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope and love.

**

Sir Francis Drake, 1577