Lord, let mine be a common place while here.
His was a common one; He seems so near
when I am working at some ordinary task.
Lord, let mine be a common one, I ask.
Give me things to do that others shun,
I am not so gifted or so poised, Lord, as some.
I am best fitted for the common things,
and I am happy so. It always brings
a sense of fellowship with Him who learned
to do the lowly things that others spurned:
to wear simple clothes, the common dress,
to gather in His arms and gently bless
(and He was busy, too) a little child,
to lay His hand upon the one defiled,
to walk with sinners down some narrow street,
to kneel Himself and wash men’s dusty feet.
To ride common foal, to work with wood,
to dwell with common folk, eat common food;
and then upon the city dump to die for me
Lord, common things are all I ask of Thee.
Ruth Bell Graham