As a result of the atrocities committed on Tuesday,
September 11, 2001, we are offering these five poem-prayer-meditations about hate and
love, injustice and truth (from the ST.
INNOCENT/FIREBIRD book, VISIONS of Love & Life & Beauty), to help
remind us about our priorities as Christians, lest we throw away the Divine Image within
us and become like the hate-filled, revengeful people who perpetrated the atrocities.
(1) THE CYCLE OF HATE
EXPANDS
- Someone from your group
- Killed someone from my group
- Therefore you are responsible
- For my pain
- And if I kill you
- Maybe my pain will disappear
- But my pain only grows
- So I must kill more
- And the more I kill
- The more numb I become
- And the easier it is to kill
- And the cycle of hate expands
- And the pain of hate engulfs
- The mind and destroys
- Its humanity
- And destroys humanity
-
(2) THE IMAGE
- Whoever hurts a fellow creature
- Hurts the Creator
- Of all creatures
- Whoever injures a fellow human
- Injures the One
- In Whose Image
- We all are made
- But whoever kills
- In the name of God
- Be he Hindu, Muslim or Jew
- Orthodox, Protestant or Catholic
- Has distorted the Image
- Beyond recognition
- And whoever teaches others
- To kill in the name of God
- Has killed himself
- And destroyed the Image
- With himself
- And he is beyond recognition
-
(3) THE RAPE OF LADY
JUSTICE
- I am white, I am black,
- I am brown, red and yellow
- My soul is at home in every shade
- My heart belongs in every hue and tone
- Whenever there is savagery
- To those of any color
- It happens to me
- And I feel the pain as my own
-
- Whenever the innocent of any color
- No matter how dark or light
- Are assaulted, enslaved, ridiculed
- Their life or dignity attacked
- My heart breaks
- In a thousand pieces
- At the rape of Lady Justice
-
(4) ALL WHO SEEK AFTER
TRUTH
- All who seek after truth
- Seek the One Who is Truth
- All who are lovers of beauty
- Love the Creator of all beauty
- All who respond to goodness
- Respond to the Origin of all goodness
- All who have love in their hearts
- Have been touched by Love Itself
- Whoever claims to know God
- But knows nothing
- Of truth, beauty, goodness or love
- Knows nothing at all
-
(5) VISIONS OF LOVE &
LIFE & BEAUTY
- Prophets and poets
- Dream dreams
- And have visions
- Of life
- Uplifted
- Where love and beauty
- Transfigure life
- So that all humans
- May live in dignity
- And fulfill their humanity
- Where the meaning
- Of life
- Is understood
- And justice and truth
- Prevail
-
- Prophets and poets
- Dream dreams
- And have visions
- Of beauty
- Exalted
- Where hate and ugliness
- Are transformed
- Where the fallen image
- Is restored
- To its primal beauty
- And love and beauty
- Reign supreme
If you liked these poetic prayer/meditations, you might be interested in
the FIREBIRD book from which they
were taken, VISIONS of Love & Life &
Beauty.
ST. INNOCENT/
