Howard Thurman I will sing a new song
The old song of my spirit has wearied itself out.
It has long ago been learned by heart
so that now it repeats itself over and over,
bringing no added joy to my days or lift to my spirit.

It is a good song,
measured to a rhythm to which I am bound
by ties of habit and timidity of mind.
The words belong to old experiences
which once sprang fresh as water
from a mountain crevice fed by melting snows.

But my life has passed beyond to other levels
where the old song is meaningless.

I demand of the old song
that it meet the need of present urgencies.
Also, I know that the work of the old song,
perfect in its place, is not for the new demand!

I will sing a new song.

As difficult as it is, I must learn the new song
that is capable of meeting the new need.
I must fashion new words born of all the new growth
of my life, my mind and my spirit.
I must prepare for new melodies
that have never been mine before,
that all that is within me may lift my voice unto God.
How I love the old familiarity of the wearied melody
how I shrink from the harsh discords
of the new untried harmonies.

Teach me, my Father, that I might learn
with the abandonment and enthusiasm of Jesus,
the fresh new accent, the untried melody,
to meet the need of the untried morrow.
Thus, I may rejoice with each new day
and delight my spirit in each fresh unfolding.

I will sing, this day, a new song
unto Thee, O God.

Nadine Waller hat dieses Gebet für uns gefunden. „Howard Thurmans Mut zur Veränderung und die Fähigkeit, das Vertraute herzugeben, damit das Neue, dass in ihm gewachsen ist, seinen Ausdruck findet, berührt mein Herz.“

Howard Thurman wurde am 18.11.1899 in Florida geboren und verstarb am 10.4.1981. Er war Autor, Philosoph, Theologe, Mystiker, Lehrer und eine Leitfigur der Menschenrechtsbewegung des 20. Jahrhunderts. Er traf Mahatma Gandhi und inspirierte mit seinen Büchern Martin Luther King Jr.