A PRAYER FROM IRELAND

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God before me, God behind me,

God above me, God below me;

I am on the path of God,

God upon my track.

Who is there on land?

Who is there on wave?

Who is there on billow?

Who is there by door-post?

Who is there along with us?

God and Lord.

I am here abroad,

I am here in need,

I am here in pain,

I am here in straits,

I am here alone, O God, aid me.

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Celtic Prayer

From The Doubleday Prayer Collection

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A MID-WINTER PRAYER

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A Mid-Winter Prayer

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From the rising of the midwinter sun to its setting
Scatter the darkness with the light of your love, O Shining One.
Make me short on mean thoughts, long on offering words of comfort
Make me short on being driven, long on paying attention
Make me short on focusing only on my own, long on looking beyond

Make me short on obsessive lists, long on spontaneous acts of kindness

Make me short on mindless activity, long on time to reflect

Make me short on tradition as a habit, long on re-discovery and re-owning

Make me short on rushing and tiring, long on walking and wondering

Make me short on false festive jollity, long on stilling and rooted joy

Make me short on guilt, long on being merciful to myself

Make me short on being overwhelmed, long on peaceableness as I set forth this day

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From The Celtic Wheel of the Year:

Celtic and Christian Seasonal Prayers

by Tess Ward

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THE SPIRIT ROLLS ALONG

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I have always been sympathetic with

the early notion of a divine power that

exists in a particular place, or that

travels about over the face of the earth

as a man might wander - when he is

"there" he is surely not here.

You can shake the hand of a man

you meet in the woods; but the

spirit seems to roll along

like the mythical hoop snake

with its tail in its mouth.

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Annie Dillard

Puliter Prize-winning American author

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