image by loswl via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Father, I know that I should not wish for my neighbor’s (nicer) house,
or my neighbor’s (more beautiful/ handsome) spouse.
I must not think to myself that I should have anything belonging to someone else –
not ever the smallest thing. Not even their dog.
In the other nine commandments you have forbidden
all injuries and evil practices against my neighbors.
Now you charge me to beware of thinking any evil thoughts against them.
And for this reason I have great reason to praise you.
You care about my home and everything I own, even my dog,
and you command everyone else never to wish they had all my things,
instead of me.
The apostle said we should be
“casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
It is true, and I find it true.
In this way you care for us, and so you would have us care for one another.
But gracious Lord, I must confess that I have forgotten
and have broken this commandment, and I still do every day.
I am wishing and coveting every minute of every hour.
I could have been content,
but I have always thought my neighbor had too much, and I too little.
And the dregs of these things, Lord, are not quite out of my heart.
I deserve your severe justice.
But keep in mind the frailty of my flesh,
the corruptions of my nature, and the many temptations.
Remember how I am able to do nothing of myself –
and how I would come to nothing if left to myself.
Be merciful and pardon me in this way also, for the sake of your son.
Amen.
John Bradford, 1510-1555, English reformer and martyr
Grace from Heaven Prayers from the Reformation, sightly modified
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You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;
you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife,
or his male servant, or his female servant,
or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
prayer & verse 