Just for Today
Lord, for tomorrow and its needs,
I do not pray;
Keep me, my God, from stain of sin
Just for today.
Let me both diligently work,
and duly pray.
Let me be kind in word and deed,
Just for today.
Let me be slow to do my will,
Prompt me to obey;
Help me to sacrifice myself
Just for today.
And if today my tide of life
Should ebb away,
Give me thy Sacraments divine,
Sweet Lord, today.
So for tomorrow and its needs
I do not pray,
But keep me, guide me, love me, Lord,
Just for today.
Saint Augustine's Prayer Book
How Easy Lord
How easy for me to live with you, O Lord!
How easy for me to believe in you!
when my mind parts in bewilderment or falters,
when the most intelligent people see no further
than the days end and do not know
what must be done tomorrow,
You grant me the serene certitude
that you exist and that you will take care
that not all paths of good be closed,
Atop a ridge of earthly fame,
I look back in wonder at the path
which I alone could never have found,
a wonderous path through despair to this point
from which I, too, could transmit
to mankind a reflection of your rays.
and as much as I must reflect
You will give me.
but as much as I cannot take up
You will have already assigned to others.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn