On this Sabbath, let us pray:
Father in Heaven, what are we without You?
What is all that we know, vast accumulation though it be,
but a chipped fragment if we do not know You?
What is all our striving,
even if it could encompass a world,
but a half-finished work if we do not know You?
You, the One who is one thing and who is all.
So may You give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing;
to the heart, sincerity to receive this and this only;
to the will, purity that wills only one thing.
In prosperity, may You grant perseverance to will one thing;
amid distraction, collectedness to will one thing;
in suffering, patience to will one thing.
Oh, You that gives both the beginning and the completion,
may You early, at the dawn of the day,
give to the young the resolution to will one thing.
As the day wanes,
may You give to the old a renewed remembrance of that first resolution,
that the first may be like the last, and the last like the first,
in possession of a life that has willed only one thing.
To know God.
*Adapted from Purity Of Heart, Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855)