A whole civilization will die tonight
People will die
Lots of people will die
Women and children will die
Have died
Slaughtered in their homes, their schools
We can hear the cries of the mothers and fathers
From here
People will die
Homes will be destroyed
Cultures erased
Call it what it is
Genocide
Why?
So, our leaders say, we can make lots of money
So that the oil will flow
So we will feel big and strong
USA, USA (and Israel too)
It is not all Tomahawk missiles,
And air strikes
It is Zionist settlers with bulldozers
It is the IDF, responding to violence and arresting the
victims
It is the incarcerated being beaten and raped
Immigrant families being torn apart
People disappeared, without due process
It is blockades dooming people to a slow death by
starvation
It is infants dying in hospitals because there is no
electricity
And it is not just in Iran, or Lebanon, or Cuba
Not just the Gaza or the West Bank
It is in Minneapolis
Washington DC
Texas
Florida
Idaho
Where the ideologically extreme right has decided
Trans people don’t deserve to exist
Women should be subjugated
Poor people should be ignored
The planet should be plundered for money
We should not be surprised that
So much evil flows from Empire
We watch it happen
Every single day
The lies, the violence
The hate mongering, the division
What do we do?
Cheer? (some do)
Pretend it isn’t happening (denial is real)
Become numb, and accept it all as normal?
The ramblings of a madman, the dishonesty, the cruelty,
and the greed?
Do we reach the point where we no longer notice?
No longer let tragedy and atrocity both us?
Where we can simply ignore a powerful white male who
brags
That he can grab “them” by their… (well, you know)
Or, do we allow our hearts to break?
And do we let our broken hearts become broken-open hearts
(Brian McLaren’s words)
Do we remember that God is love
That God cares for all who suffer,
Agonizes over all those in need,
And remember too
That we, as those who would follow GodWithUs
As those who experience GodInUs
Should also care
That we should be people of compassion.
We should look upon the world with eyes
That see
We should approach the world with broken-open hearts
Our compassion should be a bridge between
The compassion of God and the pain of the world
When we hear of children killed
Justice denied
Victims ignored
When we see violence, hunger, homelessness,
Illness, loneliness, despair
All the miseries of humankind
When we see someone suffering,
We should say
“Someone is suffering, and at least two hearts in the
universe notice and refuse to turn away – God’s heart, and my own.”
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