A Prayer

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.'