Keep Us From Pettiness

While cleaning out my desk I found an old print out of a prayer that really moved me when I was younger only to discover that it was written by none other than Mary Stuart. I'm not sure when she wrote it (and some of the language seems awfully modern so this may be an adaptation of the one she wrote) but it seems to me that she is speaking to someone very specific (QEI - I'm looking at you...).

My favorite line is the last.

Keep us, O God, from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretenses and meet each other, face to face, without self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgement and always generous.
Let us take time for things; make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put in action our better impulses - straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize it is the little things of life that create difficulties; that in the big things of life we are as one.
Oh, Lord, let us not forget to be kind.
Amen.