Oh God, again I lie here.
Awake.
Too tired, too restless, for sleep to come.
How will I ever get through tomorrow?
Oh God, bring peace to my mind and body,
and blanket me in the heaviness of slumber.
Blessed are we, still awake in night’s loud darkness, who say:
Oh God, help me. You know the state I’m in.
My mind is a runaway train,
and my body, its captive.
You know all that troubles me.
Take hold of me.
Steady the racing of my heart.
Breathe fresh comfort through the whole of my being.
Wrap me in the secure knowledge of your love.
Remind me that tomorrow’s worries can wait
because tonight has enough of its own.
Blessed are we who wait in the silence,
who remember that darkness is not dark to you,
who pray, oh God:
receive me,
gather me,
strengthen me,
sustain me,
and free me to tell you everything.
Blessed are we who listen in the quiet,
for you to breathe life
into all that is spent and gone,
filling mind and soul and body with hope,
and the beauty of your peace that passes all
understanding,
gentle as the dawn.
Welcome one sweet thought.
Follow it . . . until it grows into genuine gratitude.
Rest there.
Adapted for a communal setting from THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE
