Today in the life of the church we celebrate the Feast of Thomas à Kempis, Priest 1471.
As I was preparing for the ASP Mission Trip I was rather surprised to read a prayer by Thomas in one of the pre-trip manuals that ASP sent out this year. Of course, the prayer fits wonderfully with what we hoped the ASP Missioners would see, feel, hope and do.
This prayer may be familiar to some as it was to me when I read it in the ASP literature. Even though they are familiar these words always seem to strike such a chord with me every time I pray them. I think they speak to the hope that we have to be better than we are, the hope we have that we will grow and evolve in our love of God and of our fellow brothers and sisters.
Where are places these words strike a chord within you? Once you have identified where this prayer resonates with you, what will you do with that knowledge?
“Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know,
To love what I ought to love,
To praise what delights you most,
To value what is precious in your sight,
To hate what is offensive to you.
Do not allow me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,
Nor to pass sentence according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant people;
But to discern with a true judgment
between things visible and spiritual,
And above all,
always to inquire what is the good pleasure of your will.”
AMEN!
In Christ’s Name,
The Daily Cup 
Thomas a Kempis wrote Imitation of Christ: The problem with imitating Jesus is that it is in a sense a second rate thing. Being Jesus as Jim said is better. You think you can’t possibly be. But why not? Even if you are Jesus for one minute to say “Consider the lilies…” because you do see with the eyes of God, for one second, how much glory is yours–and your soul is saved. I am Jesus is truth. I am like Jesus is ridiculous.