Club Collect

Keep us, Oh 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 judgement
  and always be generous.
Let us take time for all things;
  make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses,
  straight forward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize
  it is the little things that create differences;
  that in the big things of life we are at one.
And may we strive to touch and to know
  the great, common human heart of us all.
And, Oh, Lord God,
  let us forget not to be kind.

           Mary Stewart
Longmont, Colorado
1904