Poem December 7, 1981 ISSUE

To love God more

PIERRE PRADERVAND

Teach me to love Thee
more
that this love may become
the centercurrent
of my life.
Fresh, inspired, serene, and strong—
so steadfast it can cut
right through the muddied waters
of sense
and come through clearer, purer still.

From such a current
many riverlets can flow,
irrigating the myriad activities
of my every day,
nourishing them with joy
that they to Thee may all return.

Give me a love so full, vibrating,
its clear intent dissolves
those mortal triplets—
apathy, indifference, and humdrum habit—
which would stifle
Thy bugle call.

Give me a love so omnipresent, deep,
that in the burning heat of deserts
I need but pause a while in the secret inner place
and stand, inspired, refreshed;
or in the biting chill of a world that doesn't care,
I may pause once more,
and feel its warm and steady inner glow.

Above all, grant me to love Thee for Thy love's sake.
May such a love
brother, mother, wife, to me become—
a constant companion of my every hour—
that I may love to love
because I see no other path,

that I may bless
with its healing, grateful touch,
every one I meet,
person, plant, or beast.

PIERRE PRADERVAND

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