Disturb Us O Lord

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 arrive 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 us into the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.

...
here is one of those prayers that immediately struck you because of the force of truth that they carry. i have come across this prayer several times already in the past, and have even used it in my reflections a few times as well. the prayer is attributed to sir francis drake (1577).