Disturb Us, Lord

During this season of Lent may the Holy Spirit disturb our souls and draw us closer to God. Spend some time with this poem attributed to Sir Francis Drake, using it as a template for your own prayer. -RW

Dis­turb us, Lord, when
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.
_{— attributed to Sir Fran­cis Drake, 1577}