PRAYER OF THE MOTHER AFTER THE CHILDREN HAVE GONE TO BED.

White Ribbon, Volume 21, Issue 245, 18 November 1915, Page 8

PRAYER OF THE MOTHER AFTER THE CHILDREN HAVE GONE TO BED.

(By Frank Crane.)

They an* asleep, O God, and 1 am tired, and 1 want the hush of a halfhour with Thee. I want to bathe m> soul in the Infinite, as workers, covered with dust and sweat, plunge into the sea. Let my hot heart feel 'Thy cool vastness, my muddy mind lose itself in Thy crystal wisdom, my bruised love be healed in the waters of Thy love, so sure, >o calm and deep. God, 1 could not bear to be a mother another day if I thought 1 should be < ailed to account for all my mistakes. 1 would never seek Thee unless I thought Thou wert as forbearing and love blind as I; but because my own children never come to me without m> heart leaping to meet them, so I learn to be very bold toward my Father which is in Heaven. lam all faults. Mv very love trips up my wisdom, and my care breeds worry, and my sense of expediency makes me disloyal to the truth. One has to be very great and good to be a mother. No one short of God Himself i ould be equal to it. Hut l love them, God; and in love I < limb beside Thy seat. Teach me Thine own wondrous skill and indirection, so that I also may learn to wait, and to suffer, and, b\ long wisdom, to circumvent. I know it is of no avail to tell them an> thing. I know their little eyes are sharp, and see my soul, and that they opy me. Therefore make me good, good in my deepest purpose, good in my very desires. Make me all 1 want them to be, strong and true and great-hearted. Save me from the irritation of little things. Give me the long vision, the sense of perspective, so that 1 may judge between essentials and nonessentials. Let me be a real mother to my children, mending their souls and fancies, and helping weave their dreams, as well .is attending to their bodies. Help me to learn wisdom from their deTTr humanities, the secret of trust in Thee from th**ir trust in me. And keep them from harm, and let them grow up sound and unspoiled. And make them always love me. Amen.