Dear Lord,

Help me to be a hospitable place for those who are suffering,
so that they may be able to lay down their burdens
and find rest for their weary souls.

Enlarge my heart so there will be room for their frustration,
their confusion, their anger.

Help me to show hospitality to the stranger with unbearable pain,
knowing that some, in doing sao, have entertained angels.

Help me to make room in my heart for my own suffering,
a stable for my confusion,
a manger for my tears,
and swaddling cloths for the heavenly gift
that labors to be born there.

from The North Face of God by Ken Gire, p. 31