Knife’s Edge, Katahdin by Amy S, via flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The path we walk to you, O God, is narrow,
as narrow as a razor’s edge.
The Way is only as wide as a human hair,
and many are those who lose their balance.
on such a thin and uncertain edge.
Each day, like a circus aerialist,
I walk the tightrope of the command,
“Come, follow me.”
Who can stride safely on such a narrow bridge,
which swings between heaven and earth?
Downward is the pull of self;
it tugs at me: “for me, for me… me.”
Heavy the gravity of the urge:
“I want, I want, I want.”
The Way is narrow and high:
holy and brave are those
who climb upon the razor’s edge,
swaying from the left to the right or right to left,
straining too hard or relaxing too much.
Holy are those who fall
but rise again
and climb back upon the narrow edge
and begin again and again.
The Way is narrow and high,
and high are those who walk it,
one small step at a time,
intoxicated by risk,
joyous at the fine balancing line
of the razor’s edge.
Edward Hays, 1931-2016, Catholic Priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City
__________________________
Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.
prayer & verse 
