“We will not fear…”

Perhaps you know this prayer. We used it responsively a few weeks ago in Sunday worship at my church. It is an expression of faith and trust in God that can inspire these in us when our hearts falter. From this trust grows the courage we need to face all the challenges before us.

God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.

By Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, p. 83, adapted