Thanks to entrepreneurial youth minister Matt Overton, for digging up this prayer – it says better than I can what I hope God will do with Ministry Incubators. And with me. (To join the entrepreneurial youth ministry conversation, go here).
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The Drake Prayer
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
-Sir Francis Drake 1577*-
*NOTE: Although in British lore Drake is a hero, he did dastardly things in addition to exploring the new world. In his twenties, he was a slave-trader; later he became a privateer (a pirate working for the British government). He particularly hated the Spanish (who returned the favor). I still find this prayer meaningful—though identifying its author gave me pause. It just seemed dishonest not to. – KCD
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