Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on my darkness, my weakness, my confusion.
Have mercy on my infidelity, my cowardice, my turning about in circles,
my wandering, my evasions.
I do not ask anything but such mercy, always, in everything, mercy.
My life here at Gethsemani – a little solidity and very much ashes.
Almost everything is ashes.
What I have prized most is ashes.
What I have attended to least is, perhaps, a little solid.
Lord have mercy.
Guide me, make me want again to be holy,
to be a man of God even though in desperateness and confusion.
I do not necessarily ask for clarity, a plain way,
but only to go according to Your love,
to follow your mercy, to trust in Your mercy.
Thomas Merton, 1915 – 1968, American Catholic writer and Trappist monk
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To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
prayer & verse 
Have you read much Merton? He was a favourite of my friend who died recently. I wish I’d rescued her copy from the depredations of a non-booky son. You’ve tracked down a brilliant image for this one
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I’ve read some, not as much as I’d like. Not an expert on him, by any means. I learned to pray much more contemplatively from him, though I don’t do it often enough
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