9/23/2007

a prayer for those whose work is invisible

Photo by Amber, who teaches me to live with eyes open wide.

For those who paint the undersides of boats, makers of ornamental drains on roofs too high to be seen; for cobblers who labor over inner soles; for seamstresses who stitch the wrong sides of linings; for scholars whose research leads to no obvious discovery; for dentists who polish each gold surface of the fillings of upper molars; for sewer engineers and those who repair water mains; for electricians; for artists who suppress what does injustice to their visions; for surgeons whose sutures are things of beauty. For all those whose work is for Your eye only, who labor for Your entertainment or their own, who sleep in peace or do not sleep in peace, knowing that their efforts are unknown.

Protect them from downheartedness and from diseases of the eye.
Grant them perseverance, for the sake of Your love which is humble and heedless of reward.

-By Mary Gordon, from The Paris Review

5 comments:

A M B E R said...

I love this! I don't think any text would better fit that photo either.

I like the line "who labor for Your entertainment or their own"--if nothing else God is entertained by our work. He gets the joke.

Dove Knits said...

I love this!

lis said...

Ahhhh... *rested sigh* Thanks for posting that!

Anonymous said...

Great excerpt from the Paris Review. Kudos to Mary Gordon, the author.

Anonymous said...

i saw a guy in portland, oregon play a song he wrote based on this piece. it was as great as Ms Gordon's piece itself ("Six Prayers")