Thank you, Christine. Peace and Joy is my wish for Heather and family.. for each of you in this forum. Your shared wisdom is critical to my daily life.
I hesitate to write this, but, although it's a beautiful poem, it lists only believers and seems to leap over the reality that much of the strife in the world is the result of the many beliefs and deities that humans embrace. They often use these beliefs to justify so much horror. Anyway, as a non believer, I too acknowledge the cycle of life and the beautiful universe of which we are only a small fleeting part ( at least in this conscious form). Would that most of us could just appreciate this gift of the seasons of life. I wish all of you the best of what you hope for in this time.
Jim Watching the American Masters dvd on Pete Seeger’s life provides me the warm buzz of experiencing a person who fought injustice and oozed kindness. He could be Santa Claus.
All the best to you & yours. Thank you for shining light into darkness.
For so many compatriots on this forum. Along with “A Night Before Christmas” which I read again tonight aloud, this poem quivers with the Light.
We the People.
Cheers!
Presented at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, White House, Washington, D.C., December 1, 2005
Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou
Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.
We, Angels and Mortal's, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.
Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.
🗽💜🌲✨
Thank you, Christine. Peace and Joy is my wish for Heather and family.. for each of you in this forum. Your shared wisdom is critical to my daily life.
“It is Christmas, a halting of hate time.” Wish it were so…
I hesitate to write this, but, although it's a beautiful poem, it lists only believers and seems to leap over the reality that much of the strife in the world is the result of the many beliefs and deities that humans embrace. They often use these beliefs to justify so much horror. Anyway, as a non believer, I too acknowledge the cycle of life and the beautiful universe of which we are only a small fleeting part ( at least in this conscious form). Would that most of us could just appreciate this gift of the seasons of life. I wish all of you the best of what you hope for in this time.
Jim Watching the American Masters dvd on Pete Seeger’s life provides me the warm buzz of experiencing a person who fought injustice and oozed kindness. He could be Santa Claus.
Thanks Keith.for this info, I'd like to watch it!
Thank you for that, Christine.
Thank you for the poem by Maya Angelou. “Peace my soul”.
Thank you Christine for this poem. Peace, my sister and Merry Christmas.
Christine, thank you. Wishing you peace, happiness and good health.
Merry Christmas.
So lovely. Thank you for posting. I'm sure I saw this read live in 2005 but never read it. Big Maya Angelou fan here!
That is wonderful, Christine. Thank you.
How beautiful Christine! Thank you, and Peace!
Thank you. Peace my sisters and brothers. Peace Heather Cox Richardson and Buddy. Peace to all, Red or Blue.
Peace to all of every hue.
Faith or not or differing belief, Peace to all in this world of grief.
Reaffirm trust and belief.
Let missiles and drones suspend; simply cease.
Remember the words of wise men who implored-Imagine no countries, no borders no wars.
Thank you for this
Beautiful Christine! Thank you for sharing these beautiful words from Dr Maya Angelou
So true and well said.
Well said, I ditto that. Don't think I'd have made it through without her letters!