Were Not Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us...

Yesterday I stopped into a church to pray for a bit before I met up with a friend for dinner. I had many things to bring the Lord...so many people to pray for and so many blessings to thank Him for. I also had one thing to bring to God which has literally been stirring in my heart for the past few months or so. I need to, I have to, I must do some sort of pro-life work. My heart has literally been set on fire with the desire to pray for a place or a forum to do this work. I don't know what capacity it will be in, or where it will take me, but I have to. I have actually never had this strong or consistent of a desire for something before in my life. I can't explain much more about it right now, but as I continue to pray about it, I will keep you posted on the doors that the Lord opens for me to serve Him. In the meantime, I'll share a prayer from Thomas Merton that comforts me in times of discernment. My well-worn Catholic Prayer Book from my childhood calls it the "Trust in God's Providence" prayer:

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,

And the fact that I think I am following

your will does not mean that I am

actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please

you does in fact please you.

And I hope that I have that desire in all

that I am doing.

And I know that if I do this, you

will lead me by the right road

though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always

though I may seem to be lost

and in the shadow of death,

I will not fear, for you are ever with me

and you will never leave me

to face my perils alone.