Have you ever needed to say something but didn't have the words? Happens to me all the time.
When I was stewing around a while back about folks who have everything nailed down - especially theologically and politically - I found myself struggling for words to express where I am.
Then I read some "Thomas Merton." Merton was a Catholic Monk and, some say, the most important Catholic writer of the 20th century. I've found that, when I don't have the words, great minds like Merton can express them for me.
So, while reading, I ran across an old prayer that said exactly what I was (and still am) feeling. I read it in Sunday school yesterday and a couple of people asked for a copy. So here it is.
Discernment
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end,
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I
am following your will does not mean that I am actually
doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please
you,
and I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore I will trust you always
though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
-Thomas Merton, The Road Ahead
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