THE ROAD AHEAD

                                  
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following 
     your will does not mean that I am
     actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
     does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart
     from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
you will lead me by the right road though I
     may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though I may
     seem to be lost and in the shadow
     of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-- Thomas Merton