Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know...

Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know,
To love what I ought to love,
To praise what delights thee most,
To value what is precious in thy sight,
To hate what is offensive to thee.
Do not suffer me to judge according to the sight of my eyes,
Nor to pass sentence according to the hearing
of the ears of ignorant men;
But to discern with a true judgment

between things visible and spiritual,
And above all, always to inquire

what is the good pleasure of thy will.
Thomas a Kempis (1380-1472)