The Prayer of Francis Drake
Francis Drake was one of England’s most famous sailors. He was reportedly a privateer and slave-trader before becoming a naval officer. Known to be a committed Anglican, he was also nicknamed the Devon Dog of England.
Essentially, he was part naval officer and part pirate. As a friend to Queen Elizabeth, he was sent out on excursions to the Spanish Mains in the Caribbean to raid the town and commandeer Spanish gold ships. He was the first English leader to circumnavigate the world, was knighted by the queen, and appointed Vice Admiral of the English fleet. He is one of the history’s great naval heroes; except to the Spanish.
The following prayer from Drake was discovered in the ship’s diary.
Disturb us, Lord, when We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
(Image source http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/gheeraer/f_drake.html)
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