End of the Year

I look back on the past year and rejoice in both my mistakes and my achievements.  They have taught me well.  I look forward to the new year with fresh eyes.  I breathe in the stillness before time begins.  (Rokelle Lerner, Affirmations for the Inner Child, 31 December)

Guide us to peaceful solutions in all our endeavors.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 26 Dec)

Lord, give me the courage to put the old year and all its mistakes [and concerns] behind me.  (Daily Wisdom for Women, 31 Dec)

Help me accept and be grateful for middles, endings, and new beginnings.  (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 29 Dec)

Lord, show me the answer You already had in mind for me.  (Carol Knapp, Daily Guideposts, 22 Dec 1988)

Save me from the kind of daring which destroys me.  (Food For Thought, 22 Dec)

Lord, guide me in my giving.  (Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go, 13 December)

Merry Christmas

No one has affected the human race as dramatically and significantly as Jesus, whose birthday we celebrate today.  He was born poor and lived a relatively short life, but he touched many people, and he continues to give meaning to the lives of millions of people.   (Good News Day by Day, December 25th)

Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, if he's not born in thee, thy soul is still forlorn.  (Johann Scheffler)

Winter Solstice

God of all light, as the birthday of Christ approaches, may I pause a moment on this solstice and thank you for the gifts of light and warmth, and especially the gift of your Son, to enlighten my life.  (Good News Day by Day, 21 Dec)

Allow the spirit of love to reign at ... Christmas ... [time].  As you get together with family and friends, make no judgments and put all grudges aside.  Celebrate what you have in common!  Accept all just as they are.  (after Mary Sue Taylor, Prayer for Daybreak and Day's End, Vol. II, 25 Dec., a.m.)

Lord, let me never underestimate the power of even the smallest prayer, and the great mountains it can move.  (Walter Harter, Daily Guideposts, 7 Dec 1988)

Advent Thought

[Remember during Advent that] overdoing because of family traditions, or whatever, is not what God had in mind for His son's birthday celebration.  (Rosalyn Hart Finch, Daily Guideposts, 17 De 1981

May I always help those in need, especially family, Father.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 2 Dec)

God, help me to keep on the course that will change my life for the better.  (One Day at a Time in Al-Anon, 4 Dec)

Christmas Prayer

Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds and the wisdom of the wise men.
Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.
Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.
Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clean hearts.
May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake.  Amen.  (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Thomas Merton

... death in war ... is a kind of execution for nothing, a meaningless extinction, a swallowing up by zero.

Father, help me reflect Your generosity to those I meet today.  (Susan Williams, Daily Guideposts, 30 Aug 1991)

Lord, show me Your way through my difficulties.  (Daily Wisdom for Women, 22 Nov)

God, help us to be generous people.  Let us share whatever we have with others, confident that good will return to us.  (Good News Day By Day, 15 Oct)

Help me bear the trials of life with dignity, Lord Jesus.  (Three Minutes a Day, Vol. 37, 5 Nov)

Lord, help me find creative ways to be a better person.  (Daily Guideposts, 23 Oct 1981)

Lord, this year help me turn the holiday commercialism into holiday spiritualism by creating Christmas for others.  (Patricia Lorenz, Daily Guideposts, 6 Dec 1991)

Thank you, Lord, for naps.  (Julia Attaway, Daily Guideposts, 19 Oct 2004)

Lord, help me to do the best I can.  (Rick Hamlin, Daily Guideposts, 22 Nov 1985)

Advent Question

What will you do to make this Advent a time of preparation that goes beyond shopping, wrapping gifts, and eating?  (After Good News Day by Day, 3 Dec)

Seasonal Prayer

Give me a second sight, Lord, one that helps me see beyond the tinsel, to Your majestic glory this Christmas season.  (Fred Bauer, Daily Guideposts, 1 Dec 1985)

Christmas Season Prayer

Dear Lord, may the spirit of hope and expectation find new birth in me this Christmas.  (Scott Walker, Daily Guideposts, 1 Dec 1991)