Praise Be to You for Life

Praise be to you, O Lord, for life

and for my intense desire to live:

praise be to you for the mystery of love

and for my intense desire to be a lover;

praise be to you for this day

and another chance to live and love.

Thank you, Lord,

for friends who stake their claim in my heart,

for enemies who disturb my soul and bump my ego,

for tuba players, and story tellers, and trapeze troupes.

Thank you , Lord,

for singers of songs, for teachers of songs,

who help me sing along the way,

...and for listeners.

Thank you, Lord,

for those who attempt beauty

rather than curse ugliness,

for those who take stands

rather than take polls,

for those who risk being right

rather than pandering to be liked,

for those who do something

rather than talk about everything.

Lord, grant me grace, then,

and a portion of your spirit that I may so live

as to give others cause to be thankful for me,

thankful because I have not forgotten

how to hope

how to laugh

how to say "I'm sorry,"

how to forgive,

how to bind up wounds,

how to dream,

how to cry,

how to pray,

how to love when it is hard,

and how to dare when it is dangerous.

Undamn me, Lord

that praise may flow more easily from me than wants,

thanks more readily than complaints.

Praise be to you, Lord, for life;

praise be to you for another chance to live.

-Ted Loder

Guerrillas of Grace