A Prayer

Lord, give me pain.

Let me feel every tear that wells up in my eyes,

Every moment my heart is shredded to pieces, Lord.

Give me pain and give me torment,

Let my soul wrench for the poor and for the needy,

Wretch for the scum of the earth,

And with my wrenching soul will come a sense of

Humanity.

Free me from numbness, lift the bluntness of my eyes;

Let me see the horrors of the world and embrace the agony of heartbreak

So that I may learn love.