ST IRENAEUS OF LYONS (c. 130 – c. 203)
It is not thou that shapest God;
it is God that shapeth thee.
For then thou art the work of God,
waiting the hand of the artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer him thy heart, soft and tractable,
and keep the form in which the artist
has shapen thee.
Let thy clay be moist,
lest thou grow hard
and lose the imprint of his fingers.