During the intercessions one Sunday in December Ted Nugee used this prayer which moved everyone so much they asked for it to be printed:
I shall pass through this world but once
Any good therefore that I can do
Or any kindness that I can show
To any human being
Let me do it now.
Let me not defer or neglect it,
For I shall not pass this way again.
It is widely attributed to Stephen Grellet (1773-1855), who was the son of a French nobleman and was himself a member of King Louis XVI’s bodyguard. He escaped execution at the time of the Revolution and went to America, where he became a Quaker missionary. It was certainly published anonymously as a Quaker proverb in 1859, but the attribution to Stephen Grellet is not proved by inclusion in any of his printed works.
Prayer in Intercessions