These days, I am praying the Morning Prayer service out of the Presbyterian Book of Common Worship. That's not a new book. It's just that I was reminded of it when looking through the new Morning Prayer service in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. I though, "This is good! It's almost as good as the Presbyterian service!" So the latter has become part of my morning rhythm in recent weeks.

As I pray Morning Prayer, of course, it is in the context of what's going on in my life. I am very conscious that a year ago this week I descended from sickness into real crisis. With that acute consciousness, in the prayer appointed for Tuesdays, these words caught me: "Especially we thank you for strength and abilities to serve your purpose today."

Words cannot describe how thankful I am for that gift, compared to where I was a year ago.

It is all very humbling, how dependent I am upon God's gift of good health.