A Prayer
Some days I hear young people I know say, "I'm not good at reading" or "I'm afraid to tell everyone what I think, why will they listen to me?" Some days I say to God, "I am too young, use someone else."
On those days I am reminded of Moses, Jeremiah and Jonah who all said something along those lines when God asked them to do His work. Then I remember Jesus, the night before he was arrested, asking if there wasn't another way to do things... but then saying "but, not my will God, do your will."
This is a prayer that I found in a book of prayers for children. Some days I pray it over certain children, some days I pray it for myself. Today I pray that God will use you to effect change in the young people you encounter through your willingness to serve.
Lord, I cannot preach like Martin Luther King Jr., or turn a poetic phrase like Maya Angelou, but I care and am willing to serve.
I do not have Harriet Tubman's courage or Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt's political skills, but I care and am willing to serve.
I cannot sing like Fannie Lou Hamer or organize like Bayard Rustin, but I care and am willing to serve.
I am not holy like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, forgiving like Nelson Mandela, or disciplined like Mahatma Gandhi, but I care and am willing to serve.
I am not brilliant like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and George Washington Carver, or as eloquent as Sojourner Truth and Booker T. Washington, but I care and am willing to serve.
I have not Mother Teresa's saintliness, Dorothy Day's love or Cesar Chavez's gentle tough spirit, but I care and am willing to serve.
God, it is not as easy as it used to be to frame an issue and to forge a solution, but I care and am willing to serve.
I can't see or hear well or speak good English, I stutter sometimes, am afraid of criticism, and get really scared standing up before others, but i care and am willing to serve.
I'm so young, nobody will listen. I am not sure what to say or do, but I care and am willing to serve.
God, use me as Thou will today and tomorrow to help build a nation and world where no child is left behind and everyone feels welcome.
