Franciscan Blessing Prayer

While cleaning up a pile of what I thought was junk this morning I came across some beautiful prayers that people have sent me.  Unfortunately I do not remember who gave me the prayers or where they originally came from.  It was a good reminder to me that hidden in the midst of what we think of as junk are often nuggets of gold.  And these nuggets of gold are only unearthed when we take the time to dig deeply into a pile of junk with observant eyes and listening ears.

I thought that I would take the opportunity over the next few days to share these prayers with you.

This first one is a Franciscan prayer of blessing:

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers,

half-truths and superficial relationships,

so that we will live deeply in our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression

and exploitation of people and the earth,

so that we will work for justice, equity and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer,

so that we will reach out our hands

to comfort them and change their pain to joy.

And may God bless us with the foolishness to think that

we can make a difference in our world,

so that we will do the things which others say cannot be done.