Prayer for all over 70

Lord God, look down upon us, this day, this hour.

Regardless of what has gone before, or what will come after, give us the grace to consecrate this time entirely to You — all the actions of our body and soul.

May all the thoughts that come to us be true.

May all the things to which our hearts go out, be beautiful with the beauty of God.

May all the things we want, be good.

Give us the light to see Your will, the grace to love it, and the courage and strength to do it.

Above all, Lord, keep me from thinking that I must say something on every subject, on every occasion.

Please release me from the desire to straighten out everyone’s affairs.

Lord, let me have a few friends to the end.

Keep my mind from the recital of endless details.

Please give me wings to get to the point.

Please seal my lips about my aches and pains.

I dare not ask for the grace to enjoy the tales of the pains of others, but help me to endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory.

But please give me the grace to be less cocksure when my memory is challenged. 

Please teach me the glorious lesson that, occasionally, I could be mistaken.

Keep me — at least reasonably mild tempered.

I do not ask to be a saint.  Some of them, whom I have known, are hard to live with.

But a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil!

Please give me the insight and the wisdom to see good things in unexpected places.

Please give me the insight, and the wisdom, to see talents in unexpected people.

And give me the grace, Lord, to tell them so.

Please give me the light to see that the most beautiful thing that I will ever have is what I have right now.

Give me the grace to see that reality, itself, is breathlessly beautiful.

Give me the courage and the strength to face reality, because this is the first virtue.

Do not allow me to escape from reality — because this is the first vice.

Give me the vision to see You in every person.

Give me the heart to love You in all my friends, in everyone with whom I come in contact.

Let me know the joy of living, the thrill of loving, the exhilaration of creating the warmth of reaching out to people, and the warmth that comes when they reach out to me.

Give me the grace to love life, to live it to the full, and to thank You for this beautiful gift.

(This prayer leans heavily on Rules For The Aging — which were composed long ago by an unknown old man, somehow, somewhere, once upon a time. They were printed by Herbert Prochnow.)