A Prayer
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Master of sweet and loving lore,
Give us the open mind
To know religion means no more,
No less, than being kind.
Give us the comprehensive sight
That sees another's need;
And let our aim to set things right
Prove God inspired our creed.
Give us the soul to know our kin
That dwell in flock and herd,
The voice to fight man's shameful sin
Against the beast and bird.
Give us a heart with love so fraught
For all created things,
That even our unspoken thought
Bears healing on its wings.
Give us religion that will cope
With life's colossal woes,
And turn a radiant face of hope
On troops of pigmy foes.
Give us the mastery of our fate
In thoughts so warm and white,
They stamp upon the brows of hate
Love's glorious seal of light.
Give us the strong, courageous faith
That makes of pain a friend,
And calls the secret word of death
'Beginning,' and not 'end.'