My soul is so dry

Lord...
My soul is so dry that by itself it cannot pray;
Yet you can squeeze from it the juice of a thousand prayers.

My soul is so parched that by itself it cannot love;
Yet you can draw from it boundless love for you
and for my neighbour.

My soul is so cold that by itself it has no joy;
Yet you can light the fire of heavenly joy within me.

My soul is so feeble that by itself it has no faith;
Yet by your power my faith grows to a great height.

Thank you for prayer, for love, for joy, for faith;
Let me always be prayerful, loving, joyful, faithful.

Guigo the Carthusian, died 1188

Guigo was a Carthusian monk in the 12th Century (1140-1193) who elaborated on St. Benedict’s practice of Lectio Divina from the 6th Century. The Carthusians were a contemplative, ascetic religious order of monks founded in the early 12th century.
Guigo knew the sweetness of meditating on Bible passages and he wrote about this almost 900 years ago in his book, The Ladder of Monks. 

You don’t have to be a monk to climb the ladder of monks that stretch up into the heavens! His words set the table with the manna from heaven that we all hunger for!

This morning, I picked up 'Just as I am' by Ruth Etchells, a wonderful prayer book that I enjoyed reading a few years ago. And as I read the above prayer I wanted to know a  bit more about the author, Guigo the Carthusian. 

Have a blessed day!