The value of compassion cannot be over-emphasized. Anyone can criticize. It takes a true believer to be compassionate. No greater burden can be borne by an individual than to know no one cares or understands.
We must offer ourselves to God like a clean, smooth canvas and not worry ourselves about what God may choose to paint on it, but at each moment, feel only the stroke of His brush.
God usually answers our prayers so much more according to the measure of His own magnificence, than of our asking, that we do not recognize His benefits to be those for which we sought Him.
There are times when being mocked is the evidence of a courageous stand. But in other cases, being mocked may be more illusory than real. It may arise from a season of negative inwardness -- a dour focus on ourselves.
Keep yourself as a pilgrim and a stranger here in this world, as one to whom the world's business counts but little. Keep your heart free, and always lift it up to God.
I don't actually know how long I have been carrying this "prayer" around with me. 20+ years at least, because I think I got it in high school. It has graced many bulletin boards between then and now. It always makes me laugh, so I thought I would share.