Excerpt from A Book Of Simple Prayers, by Gloria Gaither…

Make me sensitive to the vibrations of the souls that sound around me.

The sounds a soul makes are often faint…and tentative.

If I am not listening, I may not hear them at all.

Let me hear the broken chords, the notes slightly out of tune.

Sometimes mouths make noise loud and brash to cover the quivering tones of the injured soul.

Let me listen for hurting whimpers between the blasts of bawdy jokes and boisterous brags.

Tune the strings of my own heart, Lord, so they may vibrate in sympathetic tones to the timid, tentative tunes of children and novices.

When soul sounds are out of range for my human receptive capabilities, may the vibrations around me, bypassing my instrument, move my spirit.

And when I hurry down life’s thoroughfare past a pocket of joyful sounds, let me stop to dance!