Disturb Us, O Lord
Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves; when our dreams come true because we dreamed too little; when we have arrived in safety because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life; when having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, have allowed our vision of the new heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms show Thy mastery and, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow, even the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer by Sir Francis Drake
Design by Michael Podesta
Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves; when our dreams come true because we dreamed too little; when we have arrived in safety because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life; when having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, have allowed our vision of the new heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms show Thy mastery and, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow, even the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer by Sir Francis Drake
Design by Michael Podesta
Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves; when our dreams come true because we dreamed too little; when we have arrived in safety because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life; when having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, have allowed our vision of the new heaven to grow dim.
Stir us, O Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms show Thy mastery and, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow, even the name of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Prayer by Sir Francis Drake
Design by Michael Podesta
Behind The Art
This rousing quote from the 16th century English explorer Francis Drake has been in my “to do” file for years. I would approach it from time to time, doing a few sketches, penciling in some tentative lines of calligraphy, but never achieving quite the right balance of coast, water, stars, text.
This summer my son Alexander - an artist - was visiting. He looked over the Drake project. He was enthusiastic about the work I had done and after a while made a few suggestions that, I could see at once, would help integrate the disparate design elements. That was the impetus needed to complete the piece, and enable me to share with you now this stirring, heroic prayer from Sir Francis.
Isn’t God the ultimate adventure?
—Michael