A prayer for a loved one in harm’s way
To the editor:
A friend from southern Maine sent me a book he bought at a second-hand book sale. In the book is a letter, a copy of which follows. There is no date or inscription on the letter. There is a date of 1969 in the book as well as an inscription. The handwriting appears to be the same in letter and book.
“Dear Lord, be with me this lonely night, for in my dreams a dear face bends over me. And when I’m awake, I live over all the hours with him until he went away. I have given much, Father. I have given the hands that held my hand, the heart that made my heart thrill, the lips that were mine alone. These I have given but I have loved enough to let him go. The slow weeks pass Father and I am lonely.
Dear Lord, be a messenger to him through all the miles that lie between us. Tell him that I walk among dear remembered things and that I whisper my love in the stillness of the night. And tell him my love shall be like a guiding star that shall keep him safe and true among all the dangers and temptations that lie in wait for fighting men and lonely men.
And when this terrible time of waiting is over, please bring him safely back in peace and may our days apart be as dim as some unremembered dream.
In thine ever protecting power and love I ask it. Amen”
Presque Isle
