Rob tu mo bhoile, a Com­di cri­

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

The reasons I am drawn to this prayer are first and foremost largely sentimental; this was sung at my wedding, it was my late Nana's favorite, and it was what Joan of Arc sang before the battle of Orleans in my production of Jeanne d'Arc.

That aside, this prayer from the original 8th century Gaelic captures a place in time; this was when the Anglo-Saxon and Viking invasions were happening, concurrently with the conversion of much of the islands. This was also a time when the churches of the Irish and Rome were, in a way, competing for the loyalty of the newly converted. Within this prayer, this hymn, are all these elements: the marks of war -- swords, shields, shelters, high towers, etc; the faith decisions in waking and sleeping; and the struggle between the riches of the church in Rome and the simple life in Ireland.

All this history aside, there is the simple plea: be thou my vision. So many prayers ask for a friend, or intercedence on some matter, or eternal life, forgiveness of sins... this penitent writer asks for the ability to see things as God does, convinced that this is the way to victory in life. Ken Burns, the reknowned PBS documentary filmaker, chose an instrumental setting of this hymn for the soundtrack for his piece on Thomas Jefferson, who is called one of the grandest visionaries of all time -- but who is also criticized for not seeing the faults of his own actions (i.e. not believing in slavery, but owning slaves.) This view is perhaps more re-vision than vision. But it does give me pause:
Isn't this what we should all seek? This vision?