Prayer of St. Ephraim

Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian 

O Lord and Master of my life,

Grant not unto me a spirit of idleness,

of discouragement,

of lust for power,

and of vain speaking.

But bestow upon me, Thy servant,

the spirit of chastity,

of meekness,

of patience,

and of love.

Yea, O Lord and King,

grant that I may perceive

my own transgressions,

and judge not my brother,

for blessed art Thou

unto ages of ages.

Amen

The luckiest girl in the world

Few people have touched my heart in the last almost sixty years like this lady - Stephanie Nielson, or NieNie.  In December of 2008 I discovered the NieNie Dialogues from a typewriter widget on some random blog.  I looked it up and began to read the story of Stephanie and Christian Nielson's plane crash in Arizona in August of 2008.  While Stephanie lay in an induced coma, burned over 80% of her body, her sisters not only took on the day to day care of her four children (Christian was also seriously burned in the crash), but they also kept up her blog by posting health updates and archived posts that has accrued since NieNie started her blog in November, 2004.  It was shortly after I started reading the blog that it was announced that NieNie was out of the coma and well enough to come home to continue the long, painful recovery process.  Her first post was on January 16, 2009 ... and she has posted regularly since then.  She has shared the agony, depression, love, healing, humor, acceptance and most importantly, the faith that has allowed her to recover and to live her life as "the luckiest girl in the world".  She tells her story in Heaven is Here - check here to see more.  (This photo is the first she published of herself, thanking the anonymous person who knit her the cap.)

I agree

Shame on us

I was hungry -

and you formed a humanities club

and discussed my hunger.

I was imprisoned -

and you crept off quietly

to your chapel in the cellar

and prayed for my release.

I was naked -

and in your mind
you debated the morality

of my appearance.

I was sick -

and you knelt and thanked God

for your health.

I was homeless -

and you preached to me

of the spiritual shelter

of the love of God.

I was lonely -

and you left me alone

to pray for me.

You seem so holy,

so close to God,

but I am still very hungry

and lonely... and cold.

Author Unknown

Lake Malawi in Salima