Call to Prayer

At the Muezzin's call for prayer
The kneeling faithful thronged the square,
While on Pushkara's lofty height,
A dark priest sang of Brahma's might.

Among a monastery's weeds
An aged Franciscan told his beads,
While to the synagogue there came
A Jew to praise Jehovah's name.

The one great God looked down and smiled
And called each one His loving child.
Turk, Brahman, Monk and Jew,
All reached the loving God he knew.
Author unknown


Edith Collins, at age 92, in 1980, recited the above prayer for me. We were neighbors for three months at Madeira Beach, Florida. Edith Collins and her family, at a family Motel, had an adjoining apartment to my husband and me. We shared an outdoor sitting area with other winter visitors.

Edith Collins didn't know the author of the prayer above, but, she said, "As a girl, I memorized it." Mrs. Collins, with her husband, had had a career in vaudeville. She lived to be 98 and died at her daughter's home in Caledonia, New York.

The daughter of Edith Collins was also an Edith, Edith Phillips. She and her husband, Bob Phillips, had brought her Mother to Madeira Beach. Edith Phillips told me interesting stories of herself and her brother, as children of vaudeville parents. She recalled their sleeping on seats in trains, as they rode through the night to the place of their next performance.

Edith Phillips said, "As soon as we arrived at a new hotel, Mother set about immediately to make our rooms, homelike." Edith, the daughter, had a wonderful singing voice and in time, became part of the vaudeville act.

At the Florida motel, Edith Philips led the guests in song fests. As if we winter visitors were performers, Edith insisted that we watch her direction closely so we would keep accurate time in our singing!

Edith Phillips' mother and father were friends with well-known stage performers, including the Marx brothers, Gypsy Rose Lee, and other stars of the day. Edith and I became good friends. We kept in touch with mail, and I visited her in Caledonia. A number of years ago Edith Philips, moved to a daughter's home, farther south in New York State. Edith, now in her late nineties, remains in my memory.

I still remember a kindness Edith did one day in Florida. There were small groups of people sitting outdoors at the motel. One man, an older man, sat alone. Edith said, "It's so hard to be a stranger. Let's go welcome our new neighbor." So we did. I've remembered Edith's kindness all of these years and the pleasure in the man's face to receive welcome.

"Call to Prayer" was collected and gratefully, by
Marylee Manson Armour, January, 1980