Head_of_young_man,_marble,_akording_to_Polykleitian_model,_AM_Fira,_176785 via Wikipedia CC 4.0

A Grandmother’s Prayer for Young Men, by Glenda Taylor

 

Oh, Great and Good Spirit, behold these many young men, especially those just coming into their adulthood in a world so confusing, when what it means to be a man is everywhere challenged and redefined.

In this unanchored world, give them grace to know their inner worth and well-being.

May they find within themselves, already and always present, a given deep value and purpose that overcomes any sense of helplessness or anger.

May their strength and courage be turned to worthy purpose and kept from aggression, violence, or vengeance.

May the tenderness and gentleness in their spirits be safeguarded, honored and shared in this needy and stressful world.

May they be willing to forgive those of us who came before them who have so damaged the world they have inherited, and may they forgive themselves when they, too, falter.

May their lives unfold in ever-expanding and meaningful ways.

May they have an abiding inner peace and a sense of spiritual guidance.

Most of all, may they have an awareness of love everywhere around them, however much that eternal love may be hidden by distractions, as the light of a lamp is hidden by dirt or debris around it.

Cleanse their spirits of anything that distracts them from the good life they may yet enjoy.

Open the eyes of these young men, I pray, to a life worth living.

Let them know, too, how we struggling elders depend on them to create the future we pray for so earnestly.

And may we who love them serve them every day by our own determination and courage to live and love and serve life nobly, so that we older ones may at last be worthy of those who come after us for many generations yet unborn.

Amen.

From Grandmother Glenda Taylor

 

 

 

Image: Archaeological Museum of Fira, Polykleitos, By Zde (Own work) CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons