Skip to content ↓

My Only Plea at New Year’s

Pilot Me

As we come to the end of one year and the dawning of the next, I often find myself pondering the year that was and the year that will be. I often find myself thanking the Lord for all his mercies and pleading them for another year. To that end, I have often appreciated this poem that I found in an anthology. It is attributed to a Walter Kuhn, though I don’t have any further information about the poet. His poem is a prayer in which he simply asks God to guide and bless him in the year ahead. Perhaps you’d like to make his prayer your prayer.

Just one thing, O Master, I ask today,
Now that the old year has passed away
And a promising new year, through grace of Thine,
With all the dreams of youth is mine—
Just one thing I ask as I onward go,
That I’ll walk with Thee—not too fast, nor slow;
Just one thing I ask and nothing more,
Not to linger behind, nor run before.
O Master! This is my only plea—
Take hold of my life and pilot me.


  • Works & Wonders (June 21)

    First chief perfect, Then came a soccer ministry, A quadrillion miles of fungus, Psalm 119 volume 2, Prince Edward Island, Fried apple pie.

  • Weekend A La Carte (June 20)

    Long-form and think pieces on: Drugs vs. discipline in the age of Ozempic, the Muslim mind, A.I. doom trolling, the egalitarian scorched earth, against Christian doomerism, Fakes of the future, and many of your recommendations.

  • Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Life

    Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Life

    There are some categories of books that can be written once and remain relevant for generations. There are other categories that need to be written anew nearly every generation. Books on living life well often fall in that second category.

  • A La Carte (June 19)

    Let the little children come to Jesus / 4 right responses to times of suffering / Baal’s prophets / Magnifica Humanitas / The return of enthusiasm in modern evangelicalism / The body keeps the score / Embracing your physical limitations as you get older / What do you do when you fail? / and more.

  • A La Carte (June 18)

    MLB players reclaim the rainbow / Don’t let envy poison your soul / Why NOT to build a bigger sanctuary / Your ecclesiastical World Cup / Five points in Joni’s pain / Confessing sin / 10 tips for becoming an excellent Bible interpreter / Biblical self-examination / Book deals / and more.