We Praise Thee, O God

Almighty and everlasting God, before whom stand the spirits of the living and the dead, Light of lights, Fountain of wisdom and goodness, who dwellest in all brave and generous souls: Hear thou our prayer of praise. For the women who have gone before us, seers of visions and doers of deeds, pioneers of freedom and pathfinders of humanity, leaders of a great cause, builders of a better world: We praise thee, O God.

For their clear vision of the wrong of all distinction because of color, creed or sex, their righteous anger against all oppression of the weak and exploitation of the helpless, their stern struggle against all injustice and hardness of heart: We praise thee, O God. For their passionate pity for the joyless, their compassion for all scorned and crushed, their swift responsiveness to every cry of need: We praise thee, O God. For the inspired audacity of their ambitions, the sturdy wisdom of their endeavors, the abiding values of their achievements: We praise thee, O God.

For their deathless spirits, living still in poem and story, statue, painting and song; for their sense of the beauty and meaning of life expressed in glorious form and symbol: We praise thee, O God. For homes they have made, for their gifts to little children, and to family joy; for their daily lives, obscure and unknown, renowned and reverenced: We praise thee, O God. For their perseverance amid discouragement and failures, their steadfastness amid misunderstanding and ridicule, their dauntless courage amid loneliness and the contempt of men: We praise thee, O God.

For all the blessings that we know today, for freedom and knowledge, for opportunity and responsibility, for all our experience of abundant life, for which they paid the price: We praise thee, O God. That we may be humble in the consciousness of how much we have received, how little we have given; that we may be contrite in the memory of our failures and the knowledge of our temptations to cowardice and ease; that we may ever seek the things that are before, with courage and devotion: We earnestly pray thee.

That we may think bravely, love widely, witness humbly, build greatly: We earnestly pray thee. Amen.* A Book of Services for Group Worship