TRUE LIFE

Here I am, lord,

hungry and thirsty for life,

dreaming that I am having a good time;

believing I know how to look after myself,

I feverishly consume,

volatile pleasures,

little more than sweets,

precarious sensations

scratched from here and there...

and my hunger and thirst do not go away,

This is not real life but make belief,

a life without quality of life.

Here I am, lord,

hungry and thirsty for life,

but I am accustomed to refinement and elaboration

I filter out what is authentic.

Too educated to blaspheme,

Too traditional to overstep the mark of legality,

Too cautious to savour success,

Too reasonable to take risks,

Too comfortable to start afresh...

and my hunger and thirst do not go away,

This is not real life but make belief,

a life without quality of life.

Here I am, lord,

hungry and thirsty for life.

I never ask for much, so as not to liberate your boldness;

loving only in sips, so as not to create bonds:

watering down your gospel, to digest it better;

dreaming utopias without a future;

following in your footsteps without breaking earlier relationships...

and my hunger and thirst do not go away,

This is not real life but make belief,

a life without quality of life.

Don't pay attention, Lord

to our misjudgments,

sad expressions of knowledge,

grumbling and

mistakes.

Sometimes it is our deaf ears,

or our sterile entrails,

sometimes this head full of sawdust

or a selfish but not a loving heart,

the parts which dominate our desires and speech.

Lord, whistle your song,

that offers food and life;

that can be heard over hill and dale,

cliffs and meadows.

Wake us up from our siesta.

Defend us from so much laziness.

Lead us to the banquet of your promise.

Give us true life,

even though we don't ask for it

or wander down another street.