God bless this city
and move our hearts with pity
lest we grow hard . . .

God bless this house
with silence, solitude, simplicity
that we may pray . . .

God bless these days
of rough and narrow ways
lest we despair . . .

God bless the night
and calm the people's fright
that we may love . . .

God bless this land
and guide us with your hand
lest we be unjust . . .

God bless this earth
through pangs of death and birth
and make us whole . . .

Jim Cotter in Prayer at Night's Approaching