Just before he was executed by the Gestapo for his condemnation of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime, Dietrich Bonhoeffer composed this brief prayer in his prison cell:

“O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to you, I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not desert me;
My courage fails me, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace;
in me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
Father in Heaven praise and thanks be to you each day and night that remain.”

Whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ, in his resurrection, or even in God, I think you will agree that Bonhoeffer speaks to a need many people have today: faith in the value of something other than their self-interests.