I knelt to pray when day was done

And prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone,

Lift from each saddened heart the pain

And let the sick be well again."

And then I woke another day

And carelessly went on my way,

The whole day long I did not try

To wipe a tear from any eye.

I did not try to share the load

Of any brother on the road.

I did not even go to see

The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done

I prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone."

But as I prayed, into my ear

there came a voice that whispered clear,

"Pause now, my son, before you pray.

Whom have you tried to bless today?

Gods sweetest blessing always go

by hands that serve him here below."

And then I hid my face and cried,

"Forgive me, God, I have not tried,

But let me live another day

and I will live the way I pray."

~AUTHR UNKNOWN~