Prayer for the Atheists
O Lord! God of all Creation! Creation
that so far and bright
doth spread before the eye! Listen to
this humble supplication
of servant most unworthy, a servant
split by distraction in two,
giving so little thought to You,
though You surround me.
If it is Your Will, and their
acceptance, admit them to the house
you built for them before foundation
of the world. Let not
domain so beautiful be vacant of the
mind that would shine,
would alight it with a holy glow of
wonder, if it knew You.
O God! You well know the ways of
their minds, the religion
they took instead of Your Church. But
did they not worship
You, even as they ridiculed your
rule, describing it in words
scarce seen and known, and which
reveal Thine Glory too?
For that instant where their heart
did flutter, touched by
beauty’s inspiration, for that moment
when all became lucid,
as it did so long ago, when they
beheld a son or daughter,
and blessed You by gratitude: lead
them into reign of heaven!
Yea, the heavens they so long did
prod by gazing at the stars,
by peering into depths of life, writ
in Thine Own Word, the
Word that all the works of man
contains in pound of flesh –
they who faithfully delivered proof
of Your endless love for us.
And dare I say that they found a
crumb of favor in Your eyes,
for even as they were so wayward, in
so small and frail a skiff,
they did sail to the breeding grounds
of stars, and as prophets
revealed further the Universal Law,
for the sake of the lukewarm.
If their soul was not baptized by
touch of grace-laden water,
by the Spirit’s fire not whole consumed,
when they do give up
their ghost, let not a blank vision
of despair disturb the, but
the golden vision of flight, as I
utter with the priest: “Pray for us,
St. Socrates.”
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