A COLLECT FOR CLUBWOMEN
Keep us, O God, from pettiness;
let us be large in thought,
in word, in deed.
Let us be done with fault-finding
and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense
and meet each other face to face –
without self pity
and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment
and always generous.
Let us take time for all things;
make us grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better
impulses, straightforward
and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize
it is the little things
that create differences,
that in the big things in life
we are at one.
And may we strive to touch and to know
the great, common
human heart of us all,
and, O Lord God,
let us forget not, to be kind.
Mary Stewart
Colorado, 1904