Give us, O God, the power to go on,

   to carry our share of your burden through to the end,

   to live all the years of our life faithful to the highest we have seen,

   with no pandering to the second best,

   no leniency to our own lower selves,

   no looking backwards, no cowardice.

Give us the power to give ourselves,

   to break the bread of our lives unto starving humanity;

   in humble self-subjection to serve others,

as you, O God, serve the world.

John S. Hoyland, 1887-1957, English Quaker and Missionary

The Complete Book of Christian Prayer, slightly updated

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But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.