We are one

We are one

Human people

children, women, men;

created, according to one ancient tradition,

from the dust of planet earth.

Creatures of flesh,

breathing air, touched by spirit;

blood filled, pulsing, warm with life.

Dust, not stone.

Together in our humanness.

Lives intertwined, connected,

bound up with each other;

one.

Your joys are my joys,

your loss I feel as my own,

your pain and your anguish are mine.

My hope grows together with yours.

We use different names

to describe the mystery

and the source of our being,

we know that no single name

no individual understanding

can ever be complete

or exhaust that mystery.

We struggle together

striving after truth,

leaning towards love;

always reaching.

We choose hope over fear

generosity ahead of greed,

love before hatred.

Always love.

Always forgiveness,

always friendship;

always we will strive to understand

our sisters and brothers

so that we might build

a future of compassion,

of justice and of peace.

We will not turn away

when we see people brutalised and suffering.

Whether their names are known to us

or strangers at a distance seeking our help,

we will stand with them.

We will put aside our hearts of stone,

our suspicious thoughts and our jealousies.

We will not speak words that lead to fear,

or hatred;

nor will we listen to them.

We will trust ourselves to love.

Though selfishness and fear

should surround us, they shall not prevail.

We will put aside despair,

and walk determinedly upon uncertain paths

towards a future of hope.

We shall trust ourselves to love.

We are one.

Let me serve you,

help you, encourage you,

embrace you.

We are one.

You are my sister, my brother

my child, my parent,

my neighbour, and my friend;

I find my true self in you.

Together we will dance,

we will sing, chant, and shout.

We will walk hand in hand,

discover ing wonders,

creating possibilities;

working and building,

crying and laughing.

We will pour ourselves out in an offering of love.

We will strive,

stand and struggle together,

defiantly;

knowing that none of us

will be fully alive

until we do.

We are one.

© Ken Rookes 2019

This is a revision of my earlier post. We used it as an affirmation at our Combined Churches - RAR   Palm Sunday Gathering for Peace, Justice and Inclusion last Sunday.