The desire to please God
By Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr.
As I reflect on General Conference 2016, I offer you a prayer from the heart, soul and mind of Thomas Merton. Some would say that Merton was one of the best Catholic voices and authors of the 20th century. He was born in France and became a Trappist monk. This particular prayer comes from one of his many books entitled Thoughts in Solitude.
“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 that 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 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 I will 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.”
This beautiful aspirational prayer lays on my office desk and on my prayer rail in that same office. I can’t sit at my desk without this prayer engaging me in conversation or began to kneel and pray in my office without it doing the same.
The prayer reminds me of the word Bishop Gregory Palmer used so often in the Episcopal Address: “humility.” I believe this prayer cultivates a spirit of humility in me. In this era of adversarial relationships it calls me to examine not only what I say, but the attitude I take when I express my opinion or address another. Maybe that is why I was driven to deviate from my manuscript at General Conference to utter those words, “It’s all right for you to disagree with me but it’s not all right for you to hate me.” God expects us to be better than that.
In his prayer, Merton says, “And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire (to please God).”
The end does not justify the means. In our relationships with each other our desire to “win” must never be greater than the desire to please Jesus. As a child in my home church we would often sing a song that taught us humility and how to be introspective.
It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, Oh Lord standing in the need of prayer.
It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, Oh Lord standing in the need of prayer.
Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, Oh Lord standing in the need of prayer
It’s me, It’s me, It’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer,
It’s me, It’s me, It’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.
Not preacher, not deacon, but it’s me Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.
It’s me, It’s me, It’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer,
It’s me, It’s me, It’s me, Oh Lord, standing in the need of prayer.
You get the gist
Bishop James E. Swanson, Sr., president
General Commission on United Methodist Men