Prayer by Thomas Merton

 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 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 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 will I trust you always though
I may seem to be 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

Psalm 139

 O LorD, you have probed me and you know me;

 you know when I sit and when I stand; 

you understand my thoughts from afar,

 My journeys and my rest you scrutinize, with all my ways you are familiar. 

Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know the whole of it.

Behind me and before, you hem me in and rest your hand upon me

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; too lofty for me to attain.