In the name of daybreak
and the eyelids of morning
and the wayfaring moon
and the night when it departs,
I swear I will not dishonor
my soul with hatred
but offer myself humbly
as a guardian of nature,
as a healer of misery
as a messenger of wonder
as an architect of peace.
O Great, Holy Spirit, I take this step into the day you have
given...I hold all those I will meet today, in my journeying and in
my work. I try to walk gently on this earth. Let me walk gently
through the lives of my work companions and friends. Though
they make way for my passing, may they spring back, neither
broken nor bruised.
~ from the Plains tribes, "The Way of Three Steps", recorded by Jose Hobday in WOMAN PRAYERS by Mary Ford-Grabowsky