Manuscript Found in Accra
Help us to be humble when we receive and joyful when we give.
Help us to understand that wisdom lies not in the answers we are given, but in the mystery of the questions that enrich our lives.
Help us never to be imprisoned by the things we think we know, because we know so little about Fate. And may this lead us to behave impeccably, making use of the four cardinal virtues: boldness, elegance, love, and friendship.
Give us this day, Lord, our daily miracle.
Just as there are many paths to the top of a mountain, so there are many paths to achieving our goal. Help us to recognize the only one that is worth following: the one on which Love is to be found.
Help us to awaken the Love sleeping within us before we awaken Love in other people. Only then will we be able to attract affection, enthusiasm, and respect.
Help us to distinguish battles that are ours, battles into which we are propelled against our will, and battles that we cannot avoid because Fate has placed them in our path.
May our eyes open so that we can see that no two days are ever the same. Each one brings with it a different miracle, which allows us to go on breathing, dreaming, and walking in the sun.
May our ears also open to hear the very apposite words that suddenly emerge from the mouth of one of our fellows, even though we haven’t asked for his advice and he has no idea what is going on in our soul at that moment.
And when we open our mouth, may we speak not just the language of men, but the language of angels, too, saying: “Miracles do not go against the laws of nature; we think that only because we do not know nature’s laws.”
And when we achieve this, may we bow our head in respect, saying: “I was blind, but now I can see. I was dumb, but now I can speak. I was deaf, but now I can hear. Because God worked his miracle within me, and everything I thought was lost has been restored.”
Miracles tear away the veils and change everything, but do not let us see what lies behind the veils.
They allow us to escape unharmed from the valley of the shadow of death, but do not tell us which road led us to the mountains of joy and light.
They open doors that were locked with impossible padlocks, but they use no key.
They surround the suns with planets so that they do not feel alone in the Universe, and they keep the planets from getting too close so that they won’t be devoured by the suns.
They transform the wheat into bread through work, the grape into wine through patience, and death into life through the resurrection of dreams.
Therefore, Lord, give us this day our daily miracle.
And forgive us if we are not always capable of recognizing it.
And a man who was listening to the war chants coming from beyond the city walls and who feared for his family said:
“Speak to us about anxiety.”
And he answered:
Ther
e is nothing wrong with anxiety.
Although we cannot control God’s time, it is part of the human condition to want to receive the thing we are waiting for as quickly as possible.
Or to drive away whatever is causing our fear.
This is so from childhood onward, until we reach the age when we become indifferent to life. Because as long as we are intensely connected to the present moment, we will always be waiting anxiously for someone or something.
How can you tell a passionate heart to be still and to contemplate the miracles of Creation in silence, free of tension, fear, and unanswerable questions?
Anxiety is part of love, and should not be blamed because of that.
How can you tell someone not to worry when he has invested his money and his life in a dream but has yet to see any results? The farmer cannot speed the progress of the seasons in order to pick the fruit he planted, but he waits impatiently for the coming of autumn and harvest time.
How can you ask a warrior not to feel anxious before a battle?