『即將邁入年老的禱告』

【重明提供】

~^.^~~☆~^.^~~☆~^.^~~☆★★ ~^.^~~☆ ☆~^.^

Lord, You know that I am growing older.

Keep me from becoming talkative and possessed

with the idea that I must express myself

on every subject.

Release me from the craving to straighten out

everyone’s affairs.

Keep me from the recital of endless detail.

Give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips when I am inclined to tell of my

aches and pains. They are increasing with

the years and my love to speak of them

grows sweeter as time goes by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally

I may be wrong.

Make me thoughtful but not nosey;

helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom and experience it

does seem a pity not to use it all. But You know,

Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.

主啊，你知道我即將邁入老年，

請保守我不要太多話，讓我不要認為自己應該在所有話題上搶著表達自己的看法；教我除去想干涉每一個人隱私的欲望。

讓我不要喋喋不休、絮絮叨叨，

幫助我說話抓住重點。

封住我的唇，讓我不要逢人便訴苦自己日漸加增的病痛，教導我寶貴的功課，讓我知道自己有時可能是錯的；叫我不因別人輕忽我的智慧和經驗而懊惱。

使我體貼人，卻不干擾人；

幫助人，卻不支使人。

最後，主啊！你知道，

我實在很需要一些朋友！