Adopted from “We Thank Thee”
Prayers Written At Vailima by Robert Louis Stevenson

Lord behold our family here assembled.
Give us peace, gaiety and the quiet mind.
Give us strength to encounter that which is to come,
That we may be brave in peril,
Constant in all changes of fortune,
And that down to the gates of death,
we may be loyal and loving to one another.

Alternate:
Behold our family [and friends] here gathered.
We are thankful for our time together,
to share and bask in our love for each other.
Give us peace, gaiety and the quiet mind.
Give us strength to encounter that which is to come,
That we may be brave in peril,
Constant in all changes of fortune,
And that down to the gates of death,
we may be loyal and loving to one another.

FULL TEXT
”We Thank Thee… FOR SUCCESS”
Prayers Written At Vailima
by Robert Louis Stevenson

Lord, behold our family here assembled.
We thank Thee for this place in which we dwell;
for the love that unites us;
for the peace accorded us this day;
for the hope with which we expect the morrow;
for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies,
that make our lives delightful;
and for our friends in all parts of the earth.
Let peace abound in our small company.

Purge out of every heart the lurking grudge.
Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere.
Give us the grace to accept and to forgive offenders.
Forgetful ourselves, help us to bear cheerfully
the forgetfulness of others.
Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind.
Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies.

Bless us, if it may be, in all our innocent endeavors.
If it may not, give us the strength to encounter
that which is to come,
that we be brave in peril, constant in tribulation,
temperate in wrath,
and in all changes of fortune, and, down to the gates of death,
loyal and loving one to another.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr. James M. Merrins
42 Rosalyn Court
Fredonia, New York 14063
Telephone: (716) 672-5473
FAX: (716) 672-5472
e-mail: jmerrins@cecomet.net
www.superintendentofschools.com