17th Century Nun's Prayer.

[Bigbazza]

A well known (I think) prayer...On reading this today I was meditating on
the wisdom of the words...This could apply in all of life..including
Newsgroups as well....We all have our fixed ways..especially myself ..Have
aread of it again !



17th Century Nun's Prayer.

Lord thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing old and will
some day be old.

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every
subject and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs, make me
thoughtful, but not moody, helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all.

But though knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details , give me wings to get
to the point

Seal my lips on my aches and pains, they are increasing and love of
rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others pains, but help
me to endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility, and a lesing
cocksureness, when my memory seems to clash with the memory of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet, I do not want to be a Saint, some of them are so
hard to live with, but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the
devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in
unexpected people, and give, O Lord the grace to tell them so.

Amen

Bigbazza (Barry)..Oz

[Shirley]

Post by Bigbazza
A well known (I think) prayer...On reading this today I was meditating on
the wisdom of the words...This could apply in all of life..including
Newsgroups as well....We all have our fixed ways..especially myself ..Have
aread of it again !
17th Century Nun's Prayer.
Lord thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing old and will
some day be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every
subject and on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs, make me
thoughtful, but not moody, helpful but not bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all.
But though knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details , give me wings to get
to the point
Seal my lips on my aches and pains, they are increasing and love of
rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.
I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others pains, but help
me to endure them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility, and a lesing
cocksureness, when my memory seems to clash with the memory of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet, I do not want to be a Saint, some of them are so
hard to live with, but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the
devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in
unexpected people, and give, O Lord the grace to tell them so.
Amen
Bigbazza (Barry)..Oz

I really LOVED that Prayer Barry....Thank you for sharing it..
~~~~~~~~
Shirley

[Gordon]

Post by Bigbazza
A well known (I think) prayer...On reading this today I was meditating on
the wisdom of the words...This could apply in all of life..including
Newsgroups as well....We all have our fixed ways..especially myself ..Have
aread of it again !
17th Century Nun's Prayer.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every
subject and on every occasion.

Net Nenny, Net Nanny, nerr nerr nerr.

(That's a joke, BTW, for the benefit of the intellectually challenged).
;-)

[Anne Jackson]

Post by Bigbazza
A well known (I think) prayer...On reading this today I was meditating on
the wisdom of the words...This could apply in all of life..including
Newsgroups as well....We all have our fixed ways..especially myself ..Have
aread of it again !
17th Century Nun's Prayer.
Lord thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing old and will
some day be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every
subject and on every occasion.

From: http://www.backtothebible.org/gateway/today/20386

Some of you are familiar perhaps with a prayer for the middle-aged. It has
been attributed to any number of ministers and religious writers. Somebody
said it was a member of British royalty, somebody else said it was a
sea captain, and somebody else said it was a medieval nun. So who knows
who wrote this prayer, but somebody did. And one newspaper account claims
it was written by none of the above but by Alta Becker of Dayton, OH,
in 1956, she used it in her Lenten lectures at the Dayton women's club
and was asked each year for copies.

It has been reprinted many times. The Duchess of Windsor used it in her
New Year's resolutions, printed in McCall's magazine in 1962 with no credit
cited. The Reader's Digest however, credited it to Thomas E. Dewey in 1952,
which makes one wonder if perhaps Mrs. Becker had read it there. Although
there are several different versions and the origin remains uncertain,
I find the words well worth pondering. "A Prayer for the Middle-Aged":

"Lord, Thou knowest better than I, that I am growing older and will
someday be old