Sincerity

In this extended time of life-transition, I occasionally find myself allowing my mind to spiral from questions into worry. Last night was one of those times. I typed out an e-mail of it all, intending to send it to a friend, and then realized, the real person I needed to tell it all to was God (not that friends don't help, just that I should turn to Him first). As someone who is paid to think, write, teach about what it means to follow God, I fail in doing it far too much. So, I prayed about it, closed my computer, and went to bed.

This morning, I was reading (again) in the Valley of Vision, and came across a wonderful prayer on sincerity. Here's part of it:

May I judge my sincerity in religion
by my fear to offend thee,
my concern to know thy will,
my willingness to deny myself.
May nothing render me forgetful of thy glory,
or turn me aside from thy commands,
or shake my confidence in thy promises,
or offend thy children.
Let not my temporal occupations injure my spiritual concerns,
or the cares of life make me neglect the one thing needful.
May I not be inattentive to teh design of thy dealings with me,
or insensible under thy rebukes,
or immobile at thy calls.
May I learn the holy art of abiding in thee,
of being in the world and not of it,
of making everything not only consistent with
but conducive to my religion.

I very much want to "learn the holy art of abiding" in Him. That sounds wonderful.

It's a cold, rainy day in NH and I'm really fighting the desire to curl up and take a nap. Guess it's time for some more coffee.