A Prayer, after a Day in the Sun

O Father, make me as humble as the ground that uncomplaining supports my feet;
Make me as forgiving as the grass that does not curse me as it springs back up from my heavy, clumsy steps;
And Lord, give me the resilience to spring up when I am tread upon.
Make me as kind and gentle as the refreshing breeze that rushes past,
And as free as when it runs away to where you send it, with neither tearful goodbyes nor anxious, stubborn see-you-laters.
(Let me cling, my God, only to unchanging You, who give and take away and are always just and generous.)
Make me as lovely and lively and, at times, severe as the sun, that burns and blesses; let my brightness not be harsh to the lowly, and let it not be lenient to the proud.
Jesus, make me as open and honest as the sky
--It wears proudly the beauty You give it by day; and humbly and without shame it disappears to show Your stars by night.
O great God, I am amazed by your creation
--The sun and sky and trees and wind and grass and ground and bugs all telling Your story; all singing, in the voices You have given them, Your praise.
O merciful Lord, grant that I might join in their chorus.
Amen.