BPW Collect


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

Mary Stewart

Mary Stewart wrote the Collect in 1904 as a member of the Fortnightly Club, the forerunner of the Longmont Colorado BPW club. The Collect was written as a prayer to instill a sense of unity among women working together with wide interests and important goals.

Mary Stewart worked for women's suffrage nationally and attended the meeting in St. Louis, where the National Federation was launched. She was elected its first corresponding secretary and thereafter took an active part in the growth of the young organization by service as chairman or member of a number of national committees.

This author, who until 1910 signed the Collect with her pen name, "Mary Stuart", remained involved in BPW until her death in 1943.

 

 

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