You who are over us,
You who are one of us,
You who are also within us,
May all see you-in me also.
May I prepare the way for you,
May I thank you for all
that shall fall to my lot,
May I also not forget the needs of others.
Give me a pure heart-that I may see you.
A humble heart-that I may hear you,
A heart of love-that I may serve you,
A heart of faith-that I may abide in you. Amen.
Dag Hammarskold, Markings.
Humility before the transcendence of God, and intimacy that grows out of the soil of trust; that kind of balance is only achieved as a relationship grows and matures into mutual respective love; what Julian of Norwich called 'courtesy', a word she used often in referring to 'our courteous Lord'. Hammarksjold gently and unerringly taps the nails on the head when it comes to Christian prayer - to be available for God's service, grateful for God's gifts, alert to the needs of others so that prayer is an opening outwards of the heart. And then those four closing petitions for a heart worthy of the love of God, a precis of devotion to God.
I lent my well used and annotated Faber paperback of Markings to a friend who left it on a train. I now have a used Knopf Hardback which has untrimmed edges. I still like the odd book that is distinctive with its rough edges. But I miss that paperback which I bought in 1976 in John Smith's in Glasgow - now long gone, and sadly so.
Hammarskjold was to many an enigma, and yet a highly effective diplomat; a man of the world whose inner strength enabled a highly effective and influential active life in the world of affairs. I place Markings alongside Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, Merton's New Seeds of Contemplation, Moltmann's The Crucified God, Vanstone's Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense as amongst the 20th Century masterpieces of Christian reflection and committed, passionate discpleship.
The photo was taken on the road to Fort William in the autumn of last year. Sometimes an image is itself a kind of prayer - faith as surrender, trust and joy.
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