“Forbid it, Lord, that our roots become too firmly attached to this earth, that we should fall in love with things. Help us to understand that the pilgrimage of life is but an introduction, a preface, a training school for what is to come.
Then shall we see all of life in its true perspective. Then shall we not fall in love with the things of time, but come to love the things that endure. Then shall we be saved from the tyranny of possessions, which we have no leisure to enjoy, of property whose care becomes a burden.
Give us we pray, the courage to simplify our lives.
So we may be mature in our faith, childlike but never childish, humble but never cringing, understanding but never conceited. So help us God, to live and not merely to exist, that we may have joy in our work. In Thy name, who alone can give us moderation and balance and zest for living, we pray. Amen.
Peter Marshall in Hymns for the Family of God (Franklin: Brentwood-Benson, 1976) #464.