A Quaker Meeting House
Image Source = Ahc
Prayer Source = Horton Davies, ed., The Communion of Saints: Prayers of the Famous (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990), p. 97
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We give back to you, O God, those whom you gave to us. You did not lose them when you gave them to us, and we do not lose them by their return to you. Your dear Son has taught us that life is eternal and love cannot die. So death is only an horizon and an horizon is only the limit of our sight. Open our eyes to see more clearly, and draw us closer to you that we may know that we are nearer to our loved ones who are with you. You have told us that you are preparing a place for us, prepare us also for that happy place, that where you are we may also be always, O dear Lord of life and death.
–William Penn (1644-1718)
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This is a wonderful prayer. I have ordered the source book by Horton Davies, The Communion of Saints: Prayers of the Famous (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990)
However, I don’t find the prayer in more traditional Quaker sources online. Do you have any insight as to whether this is attributed to William Penn, but not — perhaps — actually written by him?
Thank you for your comment. All I know is what I read in the book.