Prayer On My Dossier

In the notebook, I jot down all the vital statistics of my life.  As I note each piece of data, I raise my mind to God my Maker, and praise and thank the Creator for this detail in my life history and in my self.  Note: God chose that I should come  to be in a particular place and time, of particular parents and race, and all the rest.  Am I content with God’s choices for me?

So to begin, I write down my parents’ full names, birthplaces, and birth dates.  I note my own birthday, where I was born, and any significant medical details.  I note my sex, race or ethnic group, hair and eye color, and my physical build.  I also note my siblings - name, birthdays, significant details; and I note my extended family of uncles and aunts and cousins.  I note the cities and addresses I lived at before I was seven.  All this, God chose for me; for all this, I praise and thank God.

Then I note down a half dozen personal characteristics and qualities that were bred into me before I had a choice.  Self-assurance or anxiety, intelligence, the language or languages I speak, habits of study, activities I take pleasure in.  I note at the same time a half dozen characteristics and qualities that I have inherited from my parents or my extended family, those that I like and perhaps some that I would just as soon not have.  All this, too, God chose for me within the human family; for all this, I praise and thank God.

I go on to note down five or six personal qualities in myself that I particularly like.  Perhaps I am quiet, or outgoing, and I like that about myself.  Perhaps I am thorough, or sensitive to others’ feelings, or truthful.  Perhaps I have lots of energy, or accomplish a great deal.  I note down these qualities and acknowledge them as gifts from the One who makes me.  For all this, too, God chose for me within the human family; for all this, I praise and thank God.

Finally, I go on to note down five or six personal qualities in myself that I do not particularly like.  Perhaps I am too tall or short, or cannot shake an ugly attitude.  Perhaps I have a negative image of myself.  Or find it too easy to dislike other people.  Or am diabetic.  I note down these qualities and acknowledge them as gifts from the One who makes me.  For all this, too, God chose for me within the human family; for all this, I praise and thank God.

Whenever my time is up, I recite Psalm 130.  But I remember that God did not finish making me once, long ago, when I was conceived or born.  I remember that God continues making me and has hopes for me an desires that I keep growing in love until I love as completely as God does.