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Albert Schweitzer: For Animals

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We pray today, O God, for our friends, the animals, especially for animals who are suffering; for animals that are over-worked, under-fed, and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars; for any that are lost or deserted or hungry; for all that must be put to death. We pray for them all; and for those who deal with them, we hope for a heart of compassion, gentle hands, and kindly words. We would be true friends to animals.

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) was a theologian, writer, organist and physician. He won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of Reverence for Life. Schweitzer became a doctor in order to establish a missionary hospital in what is now Gabon, Africa, in 1914.