Make me a clean vessel

Lord, I would a clean vessel be,
So that the world would see Christ in me.
So clean the cobwebs of my mind,
And throw away the trash you find.
These thoughts of fear and doubt and pride,
I pray, dear Lord, make them subside.
And worry and anxious thought,
Are not what you have for me bought.
So out they go with all the rest,
That I may for you be my best.
Take away my guilt – take away my sin,
And clean me up from deep within.
When all these things are gone from me,
In thine own image I will be.
So filled with love and humility,
That others will see Christ in me.

Helen Piraino
Helen Piraino was born in 1923, and she spent her early years in Southern Ohio. Her childhood was difficult, since her father died in the Ohio River Flood of 1936, leaving her mother with five children in the midst of the Great Depression. Throughout these years, her family learned to rely on God for their basic needs. Helen’s relationship with God was always strong and grew even stronger as she battled with cancer during the early 1990’s. This poem was given to her in the midst of this battle, and she victoriously went home to be with the Lord in 1992.