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.
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