This is the prayer of Etty Hillesum from her diaries of 1941-1943. She was killed in Auschwitz on November 30, 1943.
Dear God, these are anxious times.
Tonight, for the first time I lay in the dark with burning eyes
as scene after scene of human suffering passed before me.
I shall promise You one thing, God, just one very small thing:
I shall never burden my today with cares about my tomorrow, although that takes some practice.
Each day is sufficient unto itself.
I shall try to help You, God, to stop my strength ebbing away,
although I cannot vouch for it in advance.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me:
that You cannot help us,
that we must help You to help ourselves.
And that is all we can manage these days and also all that really matters:
that we safeguard that little piece of You, God, in ourselves.
And perhaps in others as well.
Alas, there doesn’t seem to be much You Yourself can do about our
circumstances, about our lives.
Neither do I hold You responsible.
You cannot help us, but we must help You,
and defend Your dwelling place inside us to the last.—AMEN.
(An Interrupted Life, The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941-43 by Etty Hillesum)
