The Prayers of Sun Myung Moon

PLEASE LET US BECOME CHILDREN WHO ARE CONCERNED
 ABOUT OUR PARENT'S HEART FIRST

Our Father, who has worked hard with this group
which is always inadequate and weak,
Our Father, who has counseled us
while always enduring in a lonely position,
Our Father, who takes responsibility alone in circumstances of sorrow and
who goes forward standing in the vanguard
in order to pioneer the day of comfort and rest for us,
when we consider that you are such a father,
we must ask you to please pardon us
for having severely lacked filial piety,
and for not having been able to attend you as the Lord of our hearts.
Please pardon,
Father,
that we have been inadequate and have not known until now
that you are our father who is resurrecting us
to eternal life that continues forever and forever,
and even today you are continuing the work of creation.

We are longing for a time
when we can straighten up our clothes and
our hearts can be moved with yearning and adoration
while gazing at your holy majesty.
Therefore, if there is anything you would like to instruct us about,
please come, and instruct us
so that our minds and bodies may be moved, and
if we can not go to the place that you desire
through the destined relationship of the new command,
we earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that even if you have to take a rod to us,
you will allow us to be able to go to that place.

Since in spite of the fact that
we should give ourselves as offerings to you,
we are not able to do that, Father,
we earnestly hope that
even if you have to drive us there, and
even if you have to drag us there,
you will lead us to your altar.

On the way to the mountain in Moriah,
Abraham brought his innocent son, Isaac with him.
When Isaac asked his father,
"Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
his father answered that he did not have to worry about that.
Each time I consider Abraham's heart,
each time I consider that parent's heart,
I come to feel how sorrowful your heart must be
as you lead us.

When we think that
before being concerned about your heart,
there are many times that we are concerned about ourselves
or the things around us,
now we must go beyond ourselves and
be concerned about your heart first, Father, and
this must become a time that
we awaken to the fact that we must become the people of the nation
and the sons and daughters whom you can not do without,
who give filial piety upon filial piety
and give loyalty upon loyalty, and
who can maintain the mainstream of your dispensation.
And we earnestly hope and desire
that you will allow this to be a time of
not just our awakening, but rather
of pledging with conviction.
We have humbly prayed all these things in the name of the True
Parents.
Amen.
(September 5, 1971)
 
 

PLEASE LET US BECOME ABLE TO TESTIFY
THAT WE ARE YOUR CHILDREN

Beloved Father!
We know that if we search and go up and up,
and up some more,
the outcome will be none other than the place
where we meet with you, Father.

If we consider what the final, conclusive words might be,
what you might say,
and what we might say,
they would be, "You are my son," and
"I am your son."
We know that those are the conclusive words
which are the words of hope humankind has pursued,
and the words for which you have sought and met humankind.

This is not to end
by meeting with you as son and daughter, rather
those sons and daughters should be able to transform
into the bone of your bones, and the flesh of your flesh, and
internal hope should appear to us, and
the individual aspiration which appeared to us
should appear to a family,
and the family's aspiration
should go beyond the society and nation,
and beyond all the people of the world,
and it should become
an emotion felt through the experience of your innermost heart,
and it should be able to overflow to a world level of universal validity.
We know that world is
the world of hope you are seeking,
and it is the one world humankind is looking for.

When we look at things from this position,
we will have to look and see whether
there is in reality a group which is looking for this kind of path
in this historical period today.
We will have to check into this.
We must reveal the origin of the truth
taught by Jesus and all the saints, and
in relation to ourselves,
we must find how much priority we give the value of heaven,
and we must analyze and critique
in what kind of equal situation heaven and we must stand.
And then we must understand at this time
that it will not do unless
we take a stand on a decisive position
that it must be this way, and
unless, having appeared before all the people and
the entire world and the new trends of thought,
we establish a standard of truth
which can cope with them.

Father, you must be able to prove that we are your children, and
we must have faith which can vividly testify
that we are your sons and
your daughters.
Please allow us to prove,
not only by faith but from a position of experience,
the fact that you and I have
a relationship extending front and back
and a relationship extending right and left, and
please allow us to discover our own selves
who are able to establish on our own the origin of proof
which can say that
from that kind of position without change
we have been together eternally;
we are living together eternally, and
we will live together eternally.
We have humbly prayed all these things in the name of the True Parents.
Amen.
(February 11, 1971)
 

PLEASE LET US STAND AS FITTING CHILDREN BEFORE YOU

Father!
We know the truth that
no matter how much we call out to you
if you do not call out to us
we can not have a destined relationship with you.
We must once again feel
from the depths of our hearts
that you have called out to us over and over again
from a position of suffering,
from a miserable position,
with an earnest mind
throughout the long course of history.
When we think that without having the attitude
of fitting sons in your presence,
we can not call you our father,
we can imagine how very much you must have longed
for those kinds of sons!
How much you must have longed for a place
where you could meet sons
who were filled with longing and
where you could share the circumstances
that occurred along the way of your course!
How much you must have looked forward to the place
where you could give orders about all the missions
and give final instructions!

We will have to prepare a place
where you can do that.
And
having become beings who are able to
adjust completely to all your commands,
we must become sons and daughters who are able to say,
"Oh Father! Do as you will!"
And we must become sons and daughters
who are not inadequate to inherit the spirit of our ancestors
who shouldered the mission of indemnity for the historical age.
In this age how much you must have longed for
sons and daughters
whom you could praise and boast about!
Father,
you promised, blessed, and commanded internally, but
our ancestors who came and went in the course of history
always pounded nails into your heart, and
when we realize that it was not just once or twice
that they banished you to a lonely place,
our having the destined relationship of being able to
become your sons is a joyful thing, but
in relation to the aspect of the mission,
each time we look back on the grief-filled path of restoration
walked by our ancestors,
we can not help but think that
it is accompanied by many sorrowful things.

We are able to call you Father internally, but
we know that at the same time,
externally we must be able to receive
orders about our responsibility from you.
And we have come to think that
you are not commanding and giving us orders
about our responsibility and mission
from a joyful position; rather,
you are in a miserable position
where you have to command and give us orders
from the sorrowful, lonely crossroads of death.

Please allow us to realize that
in order to meet such a father,
we must heal the misery of that father,
or we can not meet him, and
in order to have a relationship with that father,
we must go beyond all our worldly relationships,
or we can not have a relationship with him.
When we consider who was the cause
of this kind of relationship,
and we realize the truth that it was not because of you;
rather, it was because of our human ancestors, humankind,
we realize we must become your sons and daughters
who are able to feel ashamed.

And
when we tell you that
we are beings who deserve to die millions of times over,
we will be able to communicate with your pitiful situation up until now,
and when we stand in a position which is similar to yours or
in a position which is even more miserable,
our father who has been so sorrowful
will be able to comfort us.
We know that if there is such a time,
it is from that point
that we can form a relationship with you, Father.
Please allow us to realize that
a destined relationship is not realized
from a position of asking things from you; rather
it is formed from a position
where you are able to hold on to us
and share about your situation with us.
We have humbly prayed all these things in the holy name of the True
Parents. Amen.
(March 15, 1970)

PLEASE LET US BE CHILDREN WHO DO NOT FORGET
OUR DESTINED RELATIONSHIP AS PARENT AND CHILDREN

Father!
Having to accomplish the mission of certain victory
which you left behind
is the daily life of original humankind
who are living on the earth and
it is their very life, but
we know that by not having historical results
which could be left before heaven,
humankind has left behind historical grief.
Please awaken us once again to the fact that
you are concerned
because we ourselves who are living today in this age
are in a position where we could create grief.

Father!
Please remember your children
who are gathered here.
They depend on you alone, and
they are a group which is shouldering the important and great mission
of having to accomplish the mission which you left behind.
We know very well
that we appear unworthy, and
when we critique ourselves and analyze ourselves,
we know that
we do not measure up
as beings who are able to return something to you.
We must not forget that
because we have already formed a destined relationship as children with you
which can not be torn apart even if we tried to tear it apart,
you look at our very beings and
you are relating to us
from the point which divides into sorrow or joy.
Just as parents love their children,
it is the principle of all human morality,
and the duty of heavenly morality that the children must love their parents.
We know well that
through our lives, humankind should have left behind
a starting point of being able to give and receive that kind of love, but
because humankind was not able to establish a foundation in daily life
to be able to do that, and
was not able to have an environment where we were able to do that,
we could not establish that kind of tradition.

Please let this become a time and a place
in which we reflect on the sorrowful course of history
which has flowed on like this and
which calls upon us to fulfill the mission left behind
for us today.
We earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that you will allow this to be a time in which
we are able to present ourselves before your holy majesty,
receive new orders, and
receive new commands.

We are like naked people.
Please let us realize clearly
the fact that we are facing the realm of boundaries
where we can be invaded by Satan at any time.
Now we will have to know you, Father,
before we die.
And furthermore, we must feel that
there remains before us the heavenly mission
that after having come to know you
it will not do unless we live and attend you
before we die.

With our selves as we are
when we stand in the presence of your solemn majesty,
do we truly have
eyes which are able to look straight at you, Father?
Do we have faces which can relate to you without shame?
And do we have limbs and bodies
which can do things in your presence without shame?
When we think about these things,
we come to realize that
we do not have any features which are not shameful before you.
The more that we feel this
the more we come to truly know
that the position of our father
is a position in which he can not avoid sorrow
when he is relating to unworthy people
who are pitiful like this and who are not able to stand properly.
Within our true minds,
with minds soaring up which want to call out to you,
going beyond time and the ages,
our minds will have to become earnest
about running towards you.
We earnestly request you to allow us to realize
the fact that without that kind of thing,
we will not be able to continue our destined relationship
as the sons and daughters of our father.
We have humbly prayed all these things in the name of the True Parents.
Amen.
(August 24, 1969)

PLEASE LET US INHERIT YOUR PATH OF SACRIFICE

Father!
This morning is the day of rest.
Please let us be able to come into contact with your glory
together as your children, and
please let us be able to come into contact with
your noble and precious character, and
please allow this morning to become one in which
we are able to experience
the idea of the victory of the fulfillment of your hope.

Oh Father!
When we think about the fact that
your holy work of having created this entire universe
was ruined like this due to the first ancestors of humankind,
as the sorrowful happenings come one on top of the other,
we truly will have to feel
that we have become people who must be ashamed before you.

We have come to know that
you alone carried our responsibility, and
 you have walked the course of history
so miserably,
so mournfully, and
so solitarily.
Now we who have come to know this
will have to give all our strength
and praise highly
the name of our father, and
giving devotion, and following the example of your precious heart,
we will have to sacrifice everything we have, and
we will have to inherit completely
the path of sacrifice of the pioneer
which you have pioneered until now.

Oh Father!
Please look down at your children who are gathered here.
We are young.
We are inadequate.
We are a group that has lived without
any kind of hope on the earth.
We thank you sincerely
that in spite of that you have brought us to participate
in this holy place
where we are able to call out your name, Father.

Please allow us to become
true filial sons and true filial daughters
who are able to inherit all of your toil
each time we straighten up our clothes
and call out your name, Father,
and who are able to call you "Father"
through a flow of deep heart.

Our Father, who has been sorrowful for millions of years,
please reveal your grief-filled heart, and
please let us reveal all our circumstances, and
inherit completely your sorrowful grief, and
please allow us to become your children
who resolve completely all your enmity in relation to your enemies
which has become entangled over millions of years.
We have earnestly and humbly prayed in the holy name of our True Parents.
Amen.
(December 8, 1968)

PLEASE LET US BECOME CHILDREN WHO COMPREHEND
THROUGH OUR HEARTS

We know that the time of hope
which you wanted to realize
centered on the ideal of creation of heaven and earth
has not yet been able to appear on earth.
We know that
when you created all the things of creation and humankind,
your joy was great, but
until now there has been no one who fathomed
the heart of our father who looked forward to the family of goodness
which is realized through eternal life and eternal love
centered on humankind, and
there has been no one on this earth who has experienced it.
We will have to truly realize
that it is grievous, infuriating, and disappointing
that our human ancestors could not attend you and
that they could not be embraced within your will.

We will have to realize that
the place where you want to meet us
and discuss circumstances with us
is not the environment of the present reality
where we have lived until now, rather
it is your world of heart which is on a lofty level.

Please let us be able to truly understand that
that world will not come about centered on the
circumstances tangled through the fall,
rather that world is realized
centered on the heart of our father
who is longing for that one time
in which he can feel and move
centered on the true original destined relationships
which are far beyond all situations.
We earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that you will allow us to be able to stand in a position of
being able to comprehend through our hearts
and not only say that we feel.

We earnestly hope and desire
to become your children
 who are able to feel that you are alive
through the flow of blood in our veins, and
who can sense your breath
in the sound of our breathing, and
who can feel the touch of the mercy of our infinite father
through the sense of touch of our skin.

Oh Father!
Please let us realize what sorrowful people we are since
we have not had a single hour
with hearts like innocent children
who are able to be comforted by you
completely immersed in the midst of the merciful heart
of our profound and lofty father.
We have humbly prayed in the holy name of our True Parents. Amen.
(November 17, 1968)

PLEASE LET US BECOME TRUE FILIAL CHILDREN AND FULFILL
OUR RESPONSIBILITY

Father!
We did not know that you are our father
who for billions and billions of years
could not stay apart from us even if we wanted to stay apart from you.
What was your sorrow, Father?
We did not know that it was your sorrow
to have lost your children and to have lost history.
But
now following the ardent wish of your sorrowful command,
we have bowed down before you in this place and
are sincerely grateful to you.

We earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that you will let us become true filial sons and daughters
who know that
as long as historical grief remains,
your grief remains as well, and
as long as historical sorrow remains,
your sorrow remains.

The time has come that your children must appear
who can block this kind of flow of history, and
who feel keenly that there remains
the path of the world-level Golgotha
where the building of an altar for you
must be passed on to the people and the world.

Your children who have gathered here,
for whom have they lived until today?
And what are they looking to as they go forward?
We have the mission of having to be responsible for
the entire destiny of history left by heaven, and
since we have walked forth
having determined ourselves and having pledged to do that mission,
please do not let us hesitate or give up along the way.
We earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that you will not let us become a group
which fights with the evil enemy and
in the end is defeated and brought to its knees.

We earnestly hope that you will remember
the lonely group which is bowing down at your altar
representing many peoples today.
And even more, we earnestly hope and desire,
Father,
that you will remember your children
who are shedding tears and looking up to this place today also, and
who are struggling
saying that they will take on the lamentations of the people
and are concerned about heaven and humankind
even while on their lonely paths of being driven out
in every corner of the peninsula,

We have come to know that all these things
were destined relationships in your sorrowful history.
As long as the sorrowful relationships and sorrowful history
which remain before us are not cleared up,
please do not let us become ungrateful children
who flee from this path or avoid this path.
We earnestly hope and desire that
you will let us become your true sons and daughters
who are able to learn the duties of filial children and
to learn the fidelity of loyal subjects.
We have prayed all these things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
(March 13, 1966)

PLEASE LET US WALK THE PATH OF LOYALTY
AND FILIAL PIETY WHILE ATTENDING YOU

Father!
Please pardon the fact that we have shed endless tears
because of our difficulties.
When we had difficulties
we often smote our breasts and gnashed our teeth.
Please let us realize how unpardonable behavior this was
in front of our father.
Father,
please let us realize that
this kind of act could be expected
from a traitor who had forgotten the sorrow of heaven,
but it is an unreasonable act even in our dreams
for a group which knows the sorrow of heaven.
We have realized that
being joyful even when in sorrow, and
being joyful even when in difficulties, and
being grateful even if we die
are only fulfilling our responsibility at least a little
in front of our father, and
they are ways to avoid being ashamed
in the presence of our father who comes to us.

Now the problem is
the kind of position we are in.
Have we ever even once greeted our father who came to us,
or fed our father who was hungry,
or given a drink to our father who was thirsty,
or dressed our father who was in need of clothing,
or gone to see our father who was in difficulties,
or visited our father who was ill?
You have said that those positions are
where we can always attend you, Father.

We have realized that we must become sacrifices
for the whole, and
we have realized that it is an ironclad historical rule
that the smaller must be sacrificed for the larger.
Furthermore since we have realized that great sacrifices must be made
in order to establish the will of the heavenly providence,
please let us suppress our own sorrows
and be more concerned about your sorrows, and
suppress our own worries,
and be more concerned about your worries, and
suppress our own unjust suffering
and be more concerned about your unjust suffering.
Please let us realize that
if we become sons and daughters like that,
the heart of heaven comes to be together with us.

We were those who forsook you,
when we had suffering,
who reported to you
when we were in sorrow,
who appealed to you to take care of it
when we went through unjust suffering.
We have realized that this is not the duty of filial children
or the duty of loyal subjects or faithful women.
We have come to realize
that if you are going through unjust suffering,
it will not do unless
we seek to shoulder that unjust suffering
even if
we come face to face with
a sorrowful position or
the position of death, and
we have realized that we are the people
who must not let you stay in that kind of position
if you are in that kind of position,
even if we come to stand in a position
which is difficult to stand in here on the earth,

Father!
Please open the doors of our minds and
dwell in us, and
please release your grief which has formed
during the course of restoration,
and please let the joy and glory of attending you with our minds
be able to reach and affect this world
even to all the created things of heaven and earth.
Since we have realized that you are
infinitely longing for that day, Father,
please let us become people who fight and fight, and
weep and weep, going forward for the sake of that day.

We earnestly request that you will allow us to become people
who know how to run forward
to the altar of glory where we attend you
by establishing a standard of heart which says,
"I will be loyal to you in that way."
We have humbly prayed all these things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
(May 22, 1960)
 

PLEASE LET US BECOME CHILDREN
WHO DO NOT LEAVE BEHIND GRIEF

Father!
We will go.
We will be proud.
We will overcome.
We will collapse embracing this will.

No matter how many people there are who oppose us,
please allow us to become sons and daughters who are able to say,
"Who could possibly destroy
your and our relationship which is united heartistically
or the fact that we are your sons and daughters, and
you are our father?
We want to be confident of this honor alone.
We want to leave behind this honor alone for a thousand years."

Father!
We are in awe of the grace you have told us about.
We are ashamed in front of our ancestors
who were ignorant but obedient, and
we are in awe of the martyrs.
And we are in awe of Jesus, your only son who died.
Even though we are inadequate and have no qualifications,
you have given us such grace that it is difficult for us to be equal to it.
Please bear with the fact that
we have not been able to shed tears of gratitude.

We have realized that we must become your children while we are living,
and we have realized that before we die
we must praise your love highly.
Therefore
please allow us to be able to die
not having left behind any grief, and
having attended you,
at least one time, Father,
as those kinds of sons and daughters.
Please let us realize that
this is our hope, and
it is your hope, too, Father, and
we earnestly hope and desire
that you will allow us to realize that this is
the way to avenge you
and to wipe Satan out of existence.

We earnestly request and desire that you will let us become
sons and daughters who go forth and fight while praying
even if we collapse enduring, sacrificing, and yielding
until the dominion of heaven is established, and
even if we face grief which chokes us up
for the sake of the day in which this will is realized.
Please be with us personally
so that we can unite and be more than equal to
the responsibility which you have given us in front of the world.
We have prayed in the name of the Lord. Amen.
(January 17, 1960)

PLEASE LET US BE ABLE TO SING OF YOUR LIBERATION

Father!
If we
recollect your sorrowful historical course,
we can not suppress our fearful minds, and
each time we relate to the majesty of our Father
who has toiled so hard,
we can not suppress our awe-stricken minds.
Now please establish these people as sons and daughters
who are able to stop and
take over your toil
by offering their minds and bodies as sacrifices.

You
have eagerly awaited the coming of a day of victory
when we can sing of liberation from a position of joy
which you are able to enjoy, but
it is not you who is to realize that Will of liberation;
we know the fact that it will not do unless it is done by
us, human beings who are so disloyal
and struggling in the realm of death.

Please bear with humankind
who are in an important position like this, but
who are languishing along the course of death
without knowing their own value as human beings.
Please awaken in us earnest minds
which are able to sing praises of your heart of glory
by holding up a new standard for the restoration of the original heart
in ourselves now.
Please let us have
original internal characters and original external forms, and
please let us appear as true sons and daughters
and be able to sing of
your liberation, Father.
We know that you know the fact that
this has been our hope for thousands of years.

Father,
we earnestly hope and desire that
you will lead those of us
who know that there will be a day of victory
to a position of the level of victory, and that
you will lead us to be able to become sacrifices
in front of the great will
that you want to give us responsibility for.

Father!
Please allow us to be living temples
binding together our inadequate devotion.
Since we know the fact that
you are notifying us that it will not do
unless each of us individually
becomes a sacrifice for the victory,
please eliminate
everything which is not proper to you, and
Father,
please raise up a new authority of re-creation
by reaching out with your almighty hand.
Father,
we earnestly hope and desire that
you will have the internal character
and you will have the external form of re-creation
which is able to eliminate everything which is not yours.
And now, my Father!
Please awaken this people which is sleeping, and
by taking humankind, who are wandering in dire misery,
in your hands,
and gathering them together in one place,
please lead them
into your original garden,
into the garden of goodness which is your ideal.
No matter what kind of persecution or misfortune
humankind must go through,
we earnestly hope and desire that
you will quickly lead humankind
into the midst of the garden you desire.

Father!
Since we know that humankind has a responsibility
which must be fulfilled in order to do that,
oh Father,
please command your beloved sons and daughters.
If they have the responsibility to have
to go out and find the remaining lands of sin
and the remaining people,
we earnestly hope and desire that you will
please raise them up and command them, and
please allow them to be commanded and sent
to the place that you desire
as ardent laborers,
as chosen warriors of heaven
who are able to build the garden of victory.
We have prayed these things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
(June 28, 1959)

PLEASE COMMAND US THROUGH THE ORIGINAL HEART

Father!
Please allow our minds and bodies
to be permeated by your heart.
 Please let us become able to feel
that we are being pulled into your heart
which is permeating our original minds.
In our minds and bodies, please allow hearts to blossom
which are moved and can go forth running to you
who are joyful and embrace you.
We have realized that you appear faintly
in the midst of dimness and
you do not move
until we open our hearts.
Even though our minds may have become dirty
since our true hearts are still heading only towards you,
Father,
please come to us through these hearts, and
command us through these hearts.
Please allow earnest hearts to well up
which can call you "My Father"
while shedding tears we do not even perceive
having realized that our past lives were disloyal.

We have come to know that
heaven does not hesitate to
protect anyone, and
we have come to understand that
heaven does not hesitate to become the friend of
those who are seeking heaven, and
we have come to know that
heaven enjoys appearing
as the friend of people
who shed tears wailing to heaven, and
as the father
who will live with us eternally.

Father!
We long for your voice
which counseled us quietly and
we long for the sense of the amazing love
with which you embraced us gently.
We long for a moment when we can call you "Father"
through our minds which are like that, and
we want to raise our hands and
exclaim and boast that you are our father.

We thought that you were a father who was far, far away, but
it was a joyful moment when we found that
you are in our hearts.
When we said you were far away, you were in our hearts,
and when we were confident that you were in our hearts,
you were the father who had called to us from afar, but
today humanity does not know
how to match this beat.
Please let us repent at this time
for our selves of the past which did not realize
that the place where we thought you had abandoned us
was the place where you were close to us, and
that the place where we thought you were not with us
was the place where you were together with us.

We did not know your mind
which does not want to leave in places of suffering
your sons and daughters
whom you want to call "my beloved son"
and you want to call "my beloved daughter".
We, who don't know your complicated heart,
thought that you, who sent us out on the path of toil,
were a hardhearted and cruel father,
and during that time, there were many times we complained to you
and there were many times we felt bitter.
Since we did not know about the complicated walls
that blocked the way between you and us,
Father,
please bear with the fact that
we have felt bitter,
have rejected you,
have been coldhearted to you, and
have not had faith in you.

We have come to know that
this was because of the aspect of the sin
committed by our ancestors due to the fall, and
this was because saints and sages died
leaving behind stains of the blood of enmity in human history.

Today is the level of our minds in a high place?
Please burn away those minds by fire.
Are we waiting impatiently
to put ourselves and our authority forward
and to appear in your place?
 We earnestly hope and desire
that you will allow us to become sons and daughters
who, realizing that you are in a miserable position,
are able to call you "Father",
and are able to smote our shameful breasts
in front of your majesty.

Father!
Now as we come to realize that there remain times of suffering
which will continue endlessly along the remaining way as well,
we can not help but report our disloyalty of today to you
with our heads bowed.
It is my desire that you please allow
this one being to carry the sorrow of history,
and please allow heaven
to tread upon and go over all the suffering remaining,
having taken this being as a sacrifice.

I long for the moment when
you can rest and cast aside all lamentations, Father,
and we can have a moment of joy embracing each other
when I can call you my father, and
you can call me your son.
As long as we are living on this earth
no matter how miserable we are,
no matter how resolved we are,
or how much we sacrifice,
please allow us to become your sons and daughters
who are able to establish at least
sincere hearts of unbending loyalty
on this earth and then disappear.
Since we have resolved to go that kind of path,
Father,
we earnestly hope and desire that you will
drive us out and lead us
until we don't mind those things.
We earnestly request,
Father,
that this will become a time
when we are able to pledge and determine ourselves
with new minds and bodies.
We have humbly prayed all these things in the name of the Lord. Amen.
(March 29, 1959)

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