Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library

My God's Prayer

My spiritual "father" who stands for
   goodness,
May patience and understanding be
   your name
As I strive to attain those goals
   for myself
In the life I have now
I need to know and realize that
   I have a choice
   in how I treat others
   and in how I feel about myself.
Give me the wisdom to know when
   I've made wrong choices and
Give me the ability to forgive myself
   if I've not treated others
   like I want to be treated.
Protect me and keep me from becoming
   like those who will not try to
   understand or do not care.
Your spirit is the source of all
   happiness, trust, relaxation
   and creative power for me
   now and forever.

Gerry's River

The river of fear
is a painful mirror
not a rapid ride
as it's classified
to fortify a boast
that only a brave man
can survive.

For who would believe
a brag by a man
that he could finally
endure the pain
of looking
at himself?

Grace

We are here to
Honor the Spirit of the beast
That labored to provide
The bounty of this feast
So that it may nourish
Our soul as well as
Our body.

It is our saving grace
That we recognize
its sacrifice
For us.

That is why it is here.
That is why we are here.

The grains of life
We've reaped
Are no less possessed
Of that same Spirit
Born of toil
so that we may prosper.

Let us give thanks,
And let us honor the Spirit
Of those gathered here
To show their respect
With their homage of recognition
And temperate consumption.

We ask for guidance
And safe passage
On our journey
To the other side
Of this life that
Can only be temporarily
Sustained by the nourishment
Of this feast.

Let the joy of its purpose
Be reflected in our joy

For its life
And its ultimate honor.

Show us the way
To put its value to use,
And recognize that the
Passage of Spirit
Will also come to us
As our reward
For our toil.

Let death be not hollow
Empty or meaningless.

Let the Great Spirit
Fill the temple of our soul.

Grail

The great struggle for life is
The failure fated search for perfection,
 the oft' intoned pursuit
of the Holy Grail.
But, there is no Grail.
there is only a fleeting moment of presence
In the gossamer atmosphere of feeling
The being you can be.
And, knowing the feeling that you are good enough
To have achieved completion.
A noble, worthy purpose
Ignored, overlooked, forgotten
In the vain struggle to show the world
That you are
What it does not want to see.

Larry Joe Doherty is in his third season as the judge on the nationally syndicated television courtroom series, "Texas Justice." Doherty presides in the series program as arbitrator/judge and makes legally binding decisions in civil cases.
As senior partner in the firm of Doherty, Long and Wagner, Doherty concentrated his practice on legal malpractice cases. He obtained his J.D. degree from the University of Houston in 1970 and was admitted to practice in Texas that same year. Doherty has privately published a collection of his poetry.