O God, draw us from the circumference of life, where we have been living, into the Center. Draw us from preoccupation with ourselves into Your presence. Draw us from our claimful selves, and give us Yourself. In Your presence, we find simplicity amidst complexity; and compulsive activities yield to a willingness to live with singleness of heart.
Douglas Steere (1901-1995) was one of the leading Quakers of the twentieth century, a leading figure in the American Friends Service Committee and in the founding of Pendle Hill, a Quaker center outside Philadelphia. He was a professor of philosophy at Haverford College.
