Perspective
O God,
Give us a balanced perspective on life.
On the one hand, help us to pay close attention to our lives. Help us to be fully present in each moment that we experience and with each person that we encounter. Help us to give our time and energy to things that matter and then to give those things the attention that they deserve. Whatever we have to do, let us do it well.
On the other hand, help us to remember that our lives are lived in a big world filled with people and with their problems. As we struggle with our relationships, help us to remember that nations and groups are at war. As we struggle with our illnesses, help us to remember that some areas are dealing with epidemics. As we struggle to make ends meet, help us to remember that there are people living in abject poverty. As we try to decide what to have for dinner, help us to remember the people who don’t know if they’ll have anything for dinner.
Remind us that while our lives are important they are just one piece of what is going on in this big world. Let us value our lives appropriately without valuing them too highly. Let us give our lives appropriate attention without treating them as if they are more important than the lives of others. Let us deal with our problems without assigning them cosmic significance.
O God, give us a balanced perspective on life and a balanced approach to living it.
Amen.
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