MY EVENING PRAYER

 

MY EVENING PRAYER

IF I have wounded any soul today,

If I have caused one foot to go astray,

If I have walked in my own willful way---

Good Lord, forgive!

 

If I have uttered idle words or vain,

If I have turned aside from want to pain,

Lest I myself should suffer through the strain---

Good Lord, forgive!

 

If I have craved for joys that are not mine,

If I have let my wayward heart repine,

Dwelling on things of earth, not things divine---

Good Lord, forgive.

 

If I have been perverse, or, or hard, or cold,

If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,

When Thou hast given me some part to hold---

Good Lord, forgive.

 

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee,

Forgive the secret sins I do not see,

That which I know not, Father, teach Thou me---

Help me to live.

           

            The author of this prayer is the American poet  Charles H. Gabriel (1856-1932.  The title of the prayer is significant.  ‘My’ owns that whatever moral foibles, committed or were possible to be committed, were of the poet. ‘Evening’ was the time of stock-taking of his good or bad actions. If they were undesirable, as judged by Good Lord, not by the poet himself, he should be forgiven and shown the right way of living.  The word ‘forgive’ shows the humility of the poet.  His evening prayer is not a demand for such gifts as make life more delightful. It is a humble prayer for forgiveness of those immoral acts which he might have committed according to Good Lord’s judgment.     

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G.R.Kanwal

22 August 2023