Help My Weakness

As to your Lent—no physical hardships beyond what normal life provides—but take each of these as serenely and gratefully as you can and make them your humble offerings to God.  Don’t reduce sleep.  Don’t get up in the cold.  Practice more diligently the art of turning to God with some glance or phrase of love or trust at all spare moments of the day….  Be especially kind and patient with those who irritate you….  Instead of wasting energy in being disgusted with yourself, accept your own failures and just say to God ‘Well, in spite of all I may say or fancy, this is what I am really like—so please help my weakness.’  This, not self-disgust, is the real and fruitful humility. 

— from The Letters of Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941)