Monday, August 24, 2009

Quaker Wisdom for Today

Eternal God, let thy spirit inspire and guide us. Thy will be done. Give us the strength to fulfill our task without selfishness, slothfulness, or cowardice. . . . Eternal God, we will listen to thy call and obey it in order that we may hear it ever more clearly. Give us the honesty to examine our own acts and thoughts as scrupulously and severely as those of other people. . . . Give us the quiet courage needed in all circumstances and natural to whoever has consecrated his life to thee. . . . Do not let any defeat, any fall . . . separate us from thee; in the midst of all our weakness let thy love take hold of us and little by little lift us up to thee.
-- Pierre Cérésole

Pierre Cérésole (1879-1945) of Switzerland was the founder International Voluntary Service for Peace. A conscientious objector, he found himself in prison for that stand. He joined Friends in 1936. He wrote this prayer shortly before his death.

1 comment:

Tish said...

unabThanks for this thought today. It speaks to to my soul and spirit today. Will share with my Bible Study Ladies this aft. Tish D