Disturb Us, Lord

From 'Praying for Change: Daily Prayers for Anti-Racism'

by

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.

Disturb us, Lord,

          when with the abundance of things we possess

          we have lost our thirst for the waters 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.

Disturb us, Lord,

          to dare more boldly,

          to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery;

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

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love. Amen

Prayer attributed to Sir Francis Drake, 1577 in "Week of Prayer for Overcoming Racism and Xenophobia" (pdf), World Council of Churches, page 14.