I Let Go of My Accumulations [1951]

I Let Go of My Accumulations [1951]
"My ego is like a fortress.
I have built its walls stone by stone.
To hold out the invasion of the love of God.
But I have strayed here long enough. There is light
Over the barriers. Oh my God—
The darkness of my house forgive
And overtake my soul.
I relax the barriers.
I abandon all that I think I am,
All that I hope to be,
All that I believe I possess.
I let go of the past,
I withdraw my grasping hand form the future,
And in the great silence of this moment,
I alertly rest my soul.
As the sea gull lays in the wind current,
So I lay myself into the spirit of God.
My dearest human relationships,
My most precious dreams,
I surrender to His care.
All that I have called my own
I give back. All my favorite things
Which I would withhold in my storehouse
From his fearful tyranny,
I let go.
I give myself
Unto thee, O my God. Amen."
By Dr. Howard Thurman
Author of Jesus and the Disinherited
[Source]
“Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans”
Edited by James Melvin Washington