It has become my tradition to share the following prayer in this column the week after Easter since it speaks of our calling as people of the resurrection. As I re-read the nautical imagery this year, I could not help but think of Rick Mockler who so loved the ocean.

The author is Sir Francis Drake who was an English explorer in the 1500’s (Elizabethan era) and who led the second expedition to successfully circumnavigate the globe. The exact date of the prayer is unknown.

“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 arrive 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,
When 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 a new heaven to dim.

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

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes,
And to push us into the future with strength, courage, hope and love.

We ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.
Amen.”

See you in church,