As we begin a new year, we share a prayer that
resonates with a wide variety of people, including those affected by
alcoholism. It was written by Trappist monk, Thomas Merton,
o.c.s.o. (1915 – 1968) in his book Thoughts in
Solitude (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999 edition, p.
79).
“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 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.”
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 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.”
For those interested in learning more about Thomas
Merton, a talk by internationally renowned expert on the life of Merton, Prof.
Michael Higgins, will take place in Dublin on Monday, 13th January. See this
link for more information: http://www.dublindiocese.ie/content/thomas-merton-%E2%80%93-monk-all-seasons