All of us need inspiration to get us through the challenges of this life and to know that God is the wellspring that refreshes our spirits, gives us courage, and guides our footsteps.

Each week the Globe publishes a “Prayer for Willie” taken from a collection by Dr. Hamilton T. Boswell, to remind each of us of the presence of God in our lives, no matter what faith, denomination or interpretation we choose for ourselves.

Gracious God, Good Shepherd of the wandering star,

Whose light makes bright the paths we take and the distance we tread,

Our lives are open before You.

For who else knows, as You know, our dark hours of defeat, the times of doubt and the myriad of secret fears.

You know our halting purposes, our unwillingness to risk and our reluctance to be out front.

You remember our make and that we are of dust.

As we come to you this morning, enter our hearts with the spirit of power.

Confirm our good resolutions to be as hopeful now as when first made, and grant us a new perseverance to follow through.

Amen

For information regarding Prayers For Willie, Pathways for Daily Living, please e-mail Eleanor Boswell-Raine at eleanor@theglobenewspapers.com or telephone her at 510-222-5656.

Look and act

A father stands over the bassinet holding his newly born son. He is proud and happy because a manchild has been given to him from God.
   Every morning you wake up from a good night’s sleep. You then follow a personalized routine to prepare yourself for the day’s activities. After a shower and some breakfast, you check yourself in the mirror to see if everything is in order. You check your hair, your face and your clothes for anything out of place. While going through this final review, you notice that your shirt or blouse has a large hole just below the collar. You would then take whatever steps necessary to replace that garment with another, which sometimes means wearing a completely different outfit that day.
    Now, if you noticed that hole in your shirt or blouse and simply went out for the day’s activity without doing anything about it, a question of your judgment or even your mental state could be raised.
    Most of us would never go out with a torn collar or a ripped sleeve. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was,” James 1:22-24.
    Men and women getting up daily, looking into the mirror of God’s word and going on as though nothing was wrong spiritually is just as tragic as a person going to work with half a shirt collar or a coat sleeve missing. God looks at you as a fool who is kidding himself. Just as you would take drastic action with your dress attire, you should take drastic action with your spiritual life.
   “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall [be] full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matt. 6:23.