"Give Us Grace"

Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed
which we well know cries to be done.
Let us not hesitate because of ease,
or the words of men’s mouths,
or our own lives.
Mighty causes are calling us—
the freeing of women, the training of children,
the putting down of hate and murder and poverty—
all these and more.
But they call with voices that mean work
and sacrifices
and death.
Mercifully grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther,
that we say:
I will go unto the King and if I perish, I perish.

prayer by W.E.B DuBois