The Prayer of Sir Francis Drake, 1577

Supposedly offered as Francis Drake set off from Portsmouth in England aboard the Golden Hind in order to raid Spanish outposts along the coast of South America. This prayer has given inspiration to many, and is being used now by our Diocese of New Jersey as we begin the process of electing a new Bishop.  

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 water of life;
when 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 Heavens to dim.

Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
to venture on wider 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 us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ our Lord.

 By Francis Drake, an English explorer and licensed marauder for the English monarchy. In his expedition, he ventured at least as far north as the non-Spanish parts of California, claiming it as "New Albion" - New England- and returned to his Queen (the long way - via circumnavigation) with gold and other loot worth over a half million pounds sterling. For this, he received his Knighthood, and he likely composed some lovely song of thanksgiving to God for the prosperity of his journey. Unfortunately, we do not know now what the Spanish composed about Sir Francis Drake, though it was most certainly less ebullient and confident.