A Prayer For Growing Old Gracefully by UNknown/Buddha's Discourse on Good Will//The Merton Prayer/Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Music;
Vangelis-Missing

Certain thoughts are prayers. There are moments when, whatever be the attitude of the body, the soul is on its knees.
Victor Hugo

Gabriel Picart Art

A Prayer For Growing Old Gracefully
Unknown

Lord, Thou knowest better than I myself that
I am growing older and will someday be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking
I must say something on every subject and on
every occasion.Release me from craving to
straighten out everybody's affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but
not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it
seems a pity not to use it all; but Thou
knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends at
the end. Keep my mind free from the recital
of endless details; give me wings to get to
the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains; they are
increasing, and love of rehearsing them is
becoming sweeter as the years go by.I dare
not ask for improved memory, but for a growing
humility and a lessening cock-sureness when
my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally
I may be mistaken.Keep me reasonably sweet,
for a sour old person is one of the crowning
works of the devil. Give me the ability to
see good things in unexpected places and talents
in unexpected people; and give, O Lord,
the grace to tell them so.

Sutta Nipata
Buddha's Discourse on Good Will

May all beings be filled with joy and peace.
May all beings everywhere,
The strong and the weak,
The great and the small,
The mean and the powerful,
The short and the long,
the subtle and the gross:

May all beings everywhere,
Seen and unseen,
Dwelling far off or nearby,
Being or waiting to become:
May all be filled with lasting joy.

Let no one deceive another,
Let no one anywhere despise another,
Let no one out of anger or resentment
Wish suffering on anyone at all.

Just as a mother with her own life
Protects her child, her only child, from harm,
So within yourself let grow
A boundless love for all creatures.

Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.

Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.

The Merton Prayer
Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

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 I will 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.

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.