A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Gracious God, for three things today
I thank you,
for four I praise your Name:
for the wonder of existence
and for the blazing passion
of your steadfast mercies,
for uplifting deeds
of human kindness,
and for the capacity to love;
Quicken my abilities to feel
awe and gratitude, to open
my heart to each
of your children
and to you.
Amen.

--written on the Feast of St Bartholomew 1986

This prayer, based on the Hebrew wisdom pattern of “three things and four,” touches on the miracle of creation (its “thatness”), God’s covenant love (the whole issue of relationship), the outworking of God’s love and grace through human beings (participation and cooperation), and that within us which can love (the image of God). [Distilled from the notes in my paper of prayers]
--the BB