Afternoon Prayer

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.
(Prayer of Sir Francis Drake)