Daily Guide
As I rise and embrace the gift of this new day,
I welcome the goodness of earth and sky and sea,
the companionship of angels and saints,
the communion of the Holy Trinity—
Be guardian, guide, and stay
upon this narrow way.
Enter the prayer-world of the psalms daily;
dwell among the prophets, sages, and apostles.
Run in the direction they point out to you
as desperately as you’d run for water
if suddenly you found
your hair was
set on fire.
O my Love! I run toward you
with all my heart and soul
and mind and strength!
(Psalm 27.8)
Treat your thoughts like leaves
floating along a gentle brook—
you may watch them pass;
and, on occasion,
lift one out of the flowing stream
and study it intently,
but always put it back again.
Help me draw my rebel thoughts
into the chapel of my heart.
(Psalm 55.2)
Open your heart to everyone you meet,
for the image of God resides in all,
even the most cruel and unloving.
Speak no empty word;
do and say all things
from the wisdom of a heart fed by the eternal spring—
unceasing, interior prayer.
Make me like a tree planted by streams of water
(Psalm 1.3)
Avoid multitasking, it only siphons off your energy.
Instead, concentrate your powers on the person
or task right in front of you.
In everything, look for beauty
and you’ll taste delight not duty;
you’ll work like a child lost at play.
Nudge me when I’m meddling in too many matters.
(Ecclesiasticus 11.10)
Do nothing for others that might rob them
of the need or possibility of growth—
their own mistakes and achievements
are better teachers than you are.
Have no script for their lives or yours;
watch, and pray that you may not play God.
This is the way that is above all other ways;
help me attain to it.
(Psalm 101.2)
May Christ’s words,
“Take nothing for your journey,”
keep you traveling light,
always moving in the direction of simplicity,
free from the burden of debt.
You are the only thing I cannot live without.
(Psalm 73.25)
Do not despair when ordeals assail you,
people reject you, and demons attack:
“for just as gold and silver are refined in the fire,
so is your soul in the furnace of humiliation”
(Ecclesiasticus 2.5).
Pray for me that I may not prove untrue to you, the circle of God’s saints.
(Psalm 73.15)
Keep watch over the speed of your words when speaking,
the character of your handwriting,
the quality of your eye contact,
how frequently a smile lights up your face,
and the quickness of your mind to return to center
with each distracting thought.
Such things will warn you when you’re
getting stuck in the past, lured into the future, and lost in illusion—
not fully present here and now.
Ask yourself continually,
“Where am I? What is real?”
and do not set yourself up as the judge or boss of others.
Teach me to cherish each and every moment so that my heart may be made wise.
(Psalm 90.12)
Practice the grace of Sabbath-keeping,
and by doing so remember,
you were not born into the world for work alone,
but like your Maker to rest and feast upon the splendor of creation.
You satisfy my soul with the richest of feasts.
(Psalm 63.5)
Above all, love God,
and love your neighbor.
For love is the measure by which you shall be judged,
and when you love you lack nothing.
Risk everything for love,
till love is the very air you breathe.
O God, be gracious to us and bless us,
that your way may be known upon the earth.
(Psalm 67.1-2)