A Prayer to Humankind A Poem of the Heart
HEAR, O HUMANKIND, the prayer of my heart.For are we not one, have we not one desire,to heal our Mother Earth and bind her wounds?And still to be free as the spotted Eagle climbingthe laughing breath of our Father Sky,to hear again from dark forests and flashing riversthe varied ever-changing Song of Creation?
O Humankind, are we not all brothers and sisters,are we not the grandchildren of the Great Mystery?Do we not all want to love and be loved, to workand to play, to sing and dance together?But we live with fear. Fear that is hate,fear that is ambition, competition, aggression,fear that is loneliness, anger, bitterness, cruelty,fear that is mistrust. envy. greed. vanity. . . and yet fear is only twisted love, love turned backupon itself, devouring itself, hating itself,love that was denied, love that was rejected . . .
andlove...Love is life - creation, seed and leafand blossom and fruit and seed, love is growthand search and reach and touch and dance,love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure,love is pleasuring ourself, pleasuring each other,love is life believing in itself.
And life. . .Life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself, dancingto its drum, telling tales, improvising, playingand we are all that Spirit, our stories allbut one cosmic story that we are loved indeed,that perfect love we seek we are already.That the love in me seeks the love in you,and if our eyes could ever meet without fear,we would recognize each other and rejoice,for love is life believing in itself.O Humankind, we must stop fearing life,fearing each other, we must absolutelystop hating ourself, resenting Creation
.... Life,O Humankind, life is the only treasure.We are the custodians of it, it is our sacred trust.Life is wondrous, awesome and holy, a burning glory,and its price is simply this: courage . . .we must be brave enough to love.Hear my heart's prayer,
O Humankind,trust in love, don't be afraid. I love youas I love life, I love myself, pleaselove me too, love yourself, for perfect love,as a wise one said, casts out all fear.If we are to live, there is no other choice,for love is life believing in itself.Above all,let us set the children free, break the trapsof fear that history has fashioned for them,free to grow, to seek and question, to dance and sing,to be dreamers of tomorrow's rainbows,and if we but give them our trust they will guide us to a New Creation,for love is life believing in itself.
Hear, O Humankind, the prayer of my heart.~Manitongquat
Manitongquat (Medicine Story) is a medicine man and storyteller of the Wampanoag Nation. This prayer came to him at the first Rainbow Gathering in 1971. Its beauty and truth moves me to my very core.
Note from Arif :
This prayer was published by the Context Institute in 1983. Here's the reference for anyone who might be interested: Being A Planetary Villager (IC#1) Winter 1983, Page 59 Copyright (c)1983, 1996 by Context Institute.
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