A prayer for hope

Master of the World, I have been waiting a long time. So long that sometimes I am afraid to hope again, because every disappointment hurts more than the last. It is easier to expect nothing; at least that way I will not be disappointed.

But I know that without hope I wither. I begin to look at the future as though it were already written, and give up in advance on things that have not yet happened. Let me hope again. Not a naive hope that ignores reality, but one that knows reality can change, because You govern it.

Let me see small signs of good along the way: a conversation that went well, a door that opened a little, one day that was easier. Do not let me dismiss them just because they are not all that I was waiting for.

And let me hope without dictating to You exactly how it should look. Perhaps the good will come in a different form from what I pictured; let me not miss it because of that.

And let me hope for others as well. When I meet a person who has stopped waiting, give me a word that will kindle something in them.

And if what I am waiting for is delayed still longer, let me live a full life in the meantime, and not only wait.

And let me keep hope like a small candle in the window: not a great fire, but a light that does not go out. And when the day comes, when it becomes clear what You had in store for me, let me know how to give thanks.