Empower Me

Empower me to be a bold participant, 

rather than a timid saint in waiting, 

in the difficult ordinariness of now; 

to exercise the authority of honesty, 

rather than to defer to power, or deceive to get it; 

to influence someone for justice, 

rather than impress anyone for gain and, 

by grace, to find treasures of joy, of friendship, 

of peace hidden in the fields 

of the daily you give me to plow.

--Ted Loder

[Photo of childhood friends and chosen family]