A Prayer for Healing
by Anonymous
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'A Prayer for Healing' is an appeal to all people of the world to join together and heal the earth. Through a repeated refrain, 'We join with the earth and with each other', the poem calls on us to bring new life to the land, restore the waters and refresh the air; to renew the forests, care for the plants and protect the creatures; to celebrate the seas, rejoice in the sunlight and sing the song of the stars. It then turns to the human world, asking us to recreate the human community, to promote justice and peace, and to remember our children. Finally it declares that we join together 'as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery' for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life. The poem reminds us that the earth is our only home and that protecting it must be a collective effort.
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Caring for land, water, air and living things
The poem opens with its refrain, 'We join with the earth and with each other', and appeals to us to bring new life to the land, to restore the waters and to refresh the air. It then asks us to renew the forests, to care for the plants and to protect the creatures, all the animals, birds and insects whose homes are lost when trees are cut and waters are polluted.
Celebrating the gifts of nature
The next appeal is to celebrate the seas, to rejoice in the sunlight and to sing the song of the stars. These wonderful gifts of nature are not only beautiful but they also sustain life, and the words 'celebrate', 'rejoice' and 'sing' express our joy and gratitude for them.
Recreating the human community
Turning to the human world, the poem asks us to recreate the human community, to promote justice and peace, and to remember our children, that is, to leave behind a better world for the coming generations. All human beings differ from one another, yet they share the same home, the earth, and must work together.
One loving mystery
The poem closes by saying that we join together as many and diverse expressions of one loving mystery, for the healing of the earth and the renewal of all life. Though we are different, we are all part of one loving whole, and our united effort can heal and renew the world.