The horizons of our hopes

"Tall Ship No. 1

I am amazed by this prayer. It is so easy to "dream too little" and to "sail too close to the shore." The question for us all is this: Am I willing to lose sight of the land in order to find the stars? O Divine Giver-of-courage, make me so willing!

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

-- Attributed to Sir Francis Drake -1577