May it be given to us and to the world, to this world which is neither worse nor better than we are, in the midst of which we creatures have the advantage of knowing thee, of being called to thy service--may it be given to us to make use of thine incomparable offer; may it not be in vain that thou has spoken to us in thy Son; may thy church know how to put its existence to work; may it be liberated from all...impetuous Americanism, from fear and faintheartedness, from the spirit of pride, from flippancy. May we stop leafing through the Bible instead of reading it. May we moderate a little our habit of quoting the Bible instead of living with it and letting it speak. May we pray that the Bible will not cease holding our attention. May the Bible not begin to make us yawn, and thy word, in all its parts, not become a boring matter in our minds and in our mouths; may it not become a bad sermon, a bad catechism, a bad theology.
(from Karl Barth's
Prayer)
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