A Prayer for Charity

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Full of mercy, full of love,
Look upon us from above;
Thou who taught'st the blinde man's night
To entertain a double light.
Thine and the dayes—and that Thine too—
The lame away his crutches threw,
The parchèd crust of Leprosie
Return'd unto its infancy:
The dumb amazèd was to hear
His own unchain'd tongue strike his ear;
Thy powerful mercy did even chase
The devil from his usurp'd place,
Where Thou Thy self shouldst dwell, not he,
O let Thy love our pattern be;
Let Thy mercy teach one brother
To forgive and love another,
That copying Thy mercy here,
Thy goodness may hereafter reare
Our souls unto Thy glory, when
Our dust shall cease to be with men.

© Jeremy Taylor