Gifts of Mind and Heart

WE praise Thee, we magnify Thee, Almighty God, for the great gifts Thou hast bestowed upon man. We bless Thee for our relationship with all things below us, that all life is renewed in us, that all forms of life come to their glory in us; but we chiefly give Thee thanks that the image of the Divine, the spiritual gifts of love and pity, are ours.

We bless Thee for the great gifts Thou hast bestowed upon man. For wit and wisdom; for mirth and joy, for laughter and tears, for the keen sense of beauty, for the rapture of enjoyment, for all those things that give us an ear for the music that Thou hast made, for an eye clear and open to see the wondrous works of the Spirit, and for the desire to understand as far as may be these things, for the words of the wise and their treasured knowledge, for the books of the ancients and their gathered lore, for all the transmitted things of ancient days, for all the wisdom of olden time, for all the gifts and graces which Thou hast bestowed upon man—for all these, O Lord, we bless Thee.

We do greatly covet the true wisdom, the wisdom that is behind all life, the wisdom that teaches patience; the wisdom that teaches us quietly to bear the things that come upon us, lest we be impatient, and should be hurried in our trouble, and it should pass without blessing. Let the word of Thy wise servant sink into our hearts—“In the time of Thy trouble, hurry not.” When Thy good angels come, O Lord, grant us a patient spirit, that we may entertain them, learn a lesson from them, win their blessing, and let them go. If life bring to us trouble, let us remember that trouble hath a message for us; if we are weary, let us remember that weariness hath blessed things to teach us, too; and, lest we be impatient, let us remember that some have sent the best praise to God who have been most patient in weary days.

Grant us wisdom, the wisdom that endures, and endures patiently, as knowing how strength cometh out of endurance, and how victory only followeth after battle. Give us wisdom, tolerant, large-hearted, charitable wisdom, the wisdom that is better than prudence, the wisdom that is deeper than those things; give us the wisdom that lives with charity, that lives by charity, that is informed by charity; may the largeness of our love make the completeness of our wisdom, that so, living in love, we may be truly wise.

Almighty God, forgive us our dulness and indolence, our ignorance and stupidity; forgive those for whom Thou hast made such sights, and who, having eyes, behold them not; forgive those who, having such wondrous books before them, take no delight in them; forgive those whose ignorance forbids them to seek after knowledge; forgive those whose indolence leads them into superstition. Grant us to be active in the ways of God, to prove all things, to ask continued questions of Thine oracles, knowing that they be never dumb to those that humbly question them.

Lord God! whatsoever outward circumstances may bring to us, grant unto us the large, free, strong, brave, bold life of the intellect, and the lowly, loving life of the heart. When we grieve, let it be rather for the evil that is in us than for the evil that is done to us; when we mourn, let it be rather for lost righteousness than for lost happiness; when we are angry, let it be with oppression and injustice.

In all things give us the deep wisdom which is Thine; then shall our life be strong in God; then, though we cannot count the sands of the sea nor call the stars by their names, we may rest in Thy strength and humbly trust that our little lives may run their course, until at last Thou shalt bring us to the blessed land of the eternal peace and consummate wisdom, and to the vision of the Spirit of God.

Hear us of Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord.—AMEN.