Previous Page COMPASSION COLLECTION Compassion Lord when I am hungry give me someone to feed when I am thirsty give water for their thirst when i am sad someone to lift from sorrow when burdens weigh upon me lay upon my shoulders the burden of my fellows Lord when I stand greatly in need of tenderness give me someone who yearns for love ---------------------------------------------------- May your will be my bread may your grace be my strength may your love be my resting place amen author unknown --------------------------------------------------------- Dear Lord You have shown us your love in so many ways now you want to show me even more clearly how much you love me Knowing that your Father has put everything into your hands that you come from God and are returning to God you remove your outer garments and taking a towel You wrap it around your waist pour water into a basin and begin to wash my feet and then wipe them with the towel you are wearing O Lord you kneel before me You hold my naked feet with your hands and you look up at me and smile within me i feel protest rising "No Lord you shall NEVER wash my feet" It is as if I were resisting the love you offer me I want to say "You don't really know me my dark feelings, my pride, my lust, my greed-I may speak the right words but my heart is far from you No i am not good enough to belong to you "you must have someone else in mind not me" but you look at me with utter tenderness saying "I want you to be with me I want you to have full share in my life I want you to belong to me as much as I belong to the Father I want to wash you completely so that you and I can be one and so that you can do to others what I have done to you" Help us to let go of all our fears,distrust,doubt,and anguish and simply let you wash us clean and make us your friend whom you love with a love that knows knows no bounds In Jesus name Amen ------------------------------------------------------------ Lord we are hungry unless You nourish our flesh with everlasting manna We are naked unless You clothe us in the fabric of uprightness We are poor unless we grasp the richness of who you are We are homeless unless we envision eternal shelter We are lonely unless You show us divine friendship and our need of neighbor We are unemployed unless you give us purpose to toil after Lord we are half hearted unless You spirit us with your blood stained compassion again and again --------------------------------------------------------- Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and was rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children. Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester. Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job)! is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares. Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together. Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not just to those who are close to us but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judgment and quick to forgiveness and patience and empathy and love. ---------------------------------------------------------- O God, I thank You for my home. Show me how to do all I can to make it a happy place, and how to help the boys and girls who have no homes. —Catherine Baird ----------------------------------------------------- Save me, O Lord, from selfishness—especially when I am saying my prayers. When I ask something for my self, may I remember all the others who want it as well, and never let me forget the boys and girls of other lands as well as at home who are hungry and lonely and unhappy. So I pray now: God bless all children everywhere. —Donald O. Soper ------------------------------------------------------- O Merciful God, who answers the poor, Answer us, O Merciful God, who answers the lowly in spirit, Answer us, O Merciful God, who answers the broken of heart, Answer us, O Merciful God, Answer us. O Merciful God, Have compassion. O Merciful God, Redeem. O Merciful God, have pity upon us, Now, Speedily, And at a near time. —Jewish Prayer for the Day of Atonement -------------------------------------------------------- Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world who live and die in poverty and hunger. Give them through our hands this day their daily bread, and by our understanding love, give peace and joy. —Mother Teresa ---------------------------------------------------------- Lord of reality make me real not plastic synthetic pretend phony an actor playing a part hypocrite I don't want to keep a prayer list I want to pray nor agonize to find your will but to obey what I already know to argue the theories of inspiration but submit to your word I don't want to explain the difference between eros and Phylos and agape but to love I don't want to sing as if I mean it I want to mean it I don't want to tell it like it is but to be it like you want it I don't want to think another needs me but I need him else I am not complete I don't want to tell others how to do it but to do it to have to be always right but admit it when I am wrong I don't want to be a census taker but an obstetrician nor an involved person a professional but a friend I don't want to be insensitive but to hurt where other people hurt nor to say I know how you feel but to say God knows and I'll try if you will be patient with me and meanwhile I will be quiet I don't want to scorn the cliches of others but to mean everything I say including this Joseph Bayley ---------------------------------------------------------