Reflections on the Mary Stewart Collect

Keep us, O Lord, from pettiness, let us be large in thought, in word, and 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 be never be hasty in judgment and always generous.

Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straight-forward and unafraid.

 Let us take time for all things; make us grow calm, serene, gentle.

Grant that we may realize that it is the little things that create differences,

That in the big things of life we are one.

 And may we strive to touch and know the great human heart -common to us all and

O, Lord God, let us not forget to be kind.

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 Although these words sound like the petition of a mature woman whose heart and mind had been mellowed by years of experience, they were written by Mary Stewart when she was twenty-eight years old.

 As a young woman she was so caught up in her club work that she  “felt that women working together, with wide interests, for large ends, was a new thing under the sun, and perhaps they had need for special petition and meditation of their own.''

 This article goes on to delve into the deeper meaning  of each phrase, and to bring out examples of actions to be used, and those to be avoided. It would be a good program for a Women's Institute meeting, and if any one wishes to have a copy of the whole script, I will transcribe it and email it to Betty.

 The whole message is well worthwhile. But to me, the last line sums it all up very concisely:

 ..... “And O Lord God, let us not forget to be kind!”

 With kindness,

 Ruth Fenner, Provincial Historian, British Columbia Women's Institute