Some days I don’t have words for my own prayers. Fortunately, I can fall back on missives to the divine written long ago and spoken by the hopeful and the hungry. One is from the Bronze Age, uttered in the language of a nomadic tribe toiling in the Fertile Crescent; its words have greeted every sunrise and sunset for more than three thousand years:

‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’

From the moment human beings could speak of the mystery called God, we have spoken in terms of total devotion—or at least the possibility of it. To live a life of faith, therefore, requires us to go “all in” even when it would be safe to hedge our bets. We are asked to love with all our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls — to live and love like this is to live and love in holy danger. Sometimes we see love as construction material for spiritual cloisters — safe places for our hearts, souls, and egos. In fact, it’s the opposite. Love tears down walls, and it beckons us out into the wild lands of human existence.

The words of Rachel Held Evans.

R: You are my inheritance, 0 God.

Protect me, O God, because I come to You for safety.
I say, “You are my God;
all the good things I have come from You.”

R: You are my inheritance, O God.

I praise Our God who guides me,
and in the night my conscience warns me.
I am always aware of Your presence;
You are near, and nothing can shake me.

R: You are my inheritance, O God.

And so I am full of happiness and joy,
and I always feel secure;
Because You will not allow me to go to the world of the dead,
You will not abandon to the depths below
the one You love.

R: You are my inheritance, O God.

You will show me the path that leads to life;
Your presence fills me with joy,
and Your help brings pleasure forever.

R: You are my inheritance, O God.