A Prayer Before Writing for Academia

God Above All Things,

 In these moments while the document loads and my fingers rest on the keyboard grant me first an emptiness.
Remove the to-do list that waits impatiently in the corner of my mind.

Quiet the voice saying, “You’re not ready, you’re not good enough, you don’t have anything to say.”

Shield me from the imagined judgmental gaze of my advisor.
Grant me first an emptiness, an openness, a mind unchained by anxiety.

Grant me then a fullness. Where insecurity lurks, pour out confidence and curiosity.
Where there is fatigue, fill me with generosity and energy. Where there is fear, fill me with courage.

 Shelter me in your strength and quiet the world around me.
For these few hours grant me peace and solitude in my thoughts.

 Bless this mind you’ve given and help me use it fully. Help me seek and push the limits of my abilities.
Remind me that I have read enough, I have enough, I am enough,
and with time this paper will come to a place where it, too, is enough (at least for now).

 In Your name I pray,
Amen.

McKinna Daugherty is a commissioned minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and will be ordained this August. She will graduate in June with an M. Div from the University of Chicago Divinity School where she has studied as a Disciples Divinity House Scholar. Her thesis is an ethical constructive of sexuality education curriculums in Protestant contexts. In her current ministry she serves as the Chapel Coordinator for the Divinity School’s multi-faith prayer service, and is actively seeking her next ministry context .

photo credit: bennylin0724 via photopin cc

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