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I know I've commented many times before on the way things come around full circle - the 'circle of life' - and how everything is connected. Please bear with me as I do this again! I was recently reminded of a young man who was "a poet, a peacemaker and a philosopher who played", Mattie Stepanek. He was a true saint. If you don't know about him, you can learn more at http://www.mattieonline.com . On 9/11/01, he wrote the poem, "For Our World". It speaks many innocent truths about how peace can be achieved. I believe it connects so strongly to how we can attain sustainability. We need to just stop....to think...to do better....to do our very best. I'm slowly decluttering my house and my life. I see all of the 'things' that have come into my life over the past 39 years. How did they get here? For most things, I can't even answer that question. They got here somehow in the unconscious. From this day forward, though, I am going to be conscious...of everything that comes into my life. There are so many things that come into our lives each day. We can just let them pass by and not reflect on their meaning, or we can choose to be conscious and make sure that what is coming into our lives reflects the values that we hold dear to our hearts. For us...and For our world....
FOR OUR WORLD
We need to stop.Just stop.
Stop for a moment…
Before anybody
Says or does anything
That may hurt anyone else.
We need to be silent.
Just silent.
Silent for a moment…
Before we forever lose
The blessing of songs
That grow in our hearts.
We need to notice.
Just notice.
Notice for a moment…
Before the future slips away
Into ashes and dust of humility.
Stop, be silent, and notice…
In so many ways, we are the same.
Our differences are unique treasures.
We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts
To nurture, to offer, to accept.
We need to be.
Just be.
Be for a moment…
Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,
Like children and lambs,
Never judging or vengeful
Like the judging and vengeful.
And now, let us pray,
Differently, yet together,
Before there is no earth, no life,
No chance for peace.
Mattie J.T. Stepanek ©
September 11, 2001
Hope Through Heartsongs
Hyperion, 2002
Just Peace: A Message of Hope
Andrews McMeel, 2006
