When the lamp is going out keep the flame alive
and save bruised reed from being broken.
Let us know the mystery of the eternal life
Leaping in the pulse beat
and make us aware of the dignity of a single life
housed in the beating of a warm heart.
Help us that we may not discriminate
those who have from those who have not,
the high in status from the lowly,
the unlettered from the educated,
those I know so well
from those who are strangers to me.
Ah, human life which cannot be bought
in exchange for the whole world!
Make us aware of the fearsomeness,
the gravity and the greatness
of this overwhelming and awesome task
of caring for the sons and daughters of God.