PEACE PRAYER [WARNING: Read with tissues to hand]

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Came in my email just a little while ago.

*****************************************************************
This poem is by a monk who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
*****************************************************************

REST IN PEACE (by Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh)

I am a World Trade Center tower, standing tall in the clear blue sky, feeling a violent blow in my side, and I am a towering inferno of pain and suffering imploding upon myself and collapsing to the ground. May I rest in peace.

I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane not knowing where we are going or that I am riding on fuel tanks that will be instruments of death, and I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing that in just a moment my future will be obliterated. May I rest in peace.

I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers eating crumbs from someone's breakfast when fire rains down on me from the skies, and I am a bed of flowers admired daily by thousands of tourists now buried under five stories of rubble. May I rest in peace.

I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke and debris on a mission of mercy only to have it collapse around me, and I am a rescue worker risking my life to save lives who is very aware that I may not make it out alive. May I rest in peace.

I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and out of the building to safety who knows that nothing will ever be the same in my soul again, and I am a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned from head to toe who knows that these horrible images will remain in my mind forever. May I know peace.

I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the giant TV screens thinking I'm seeing a disaster movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to the ground, and I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends and family letting them know that I am safe. May I know peace.

I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk this morning and now I'm debris scattered by the wind across lower Manhattan, and I am a stone in the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot from the buildings that once stood proudly above me, death meeting death. May I rest in peace.

I am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life, doing my best to be of service, and I am a blood donor waiting in line to make a simple but very needed contribution for the victims. May I know peace.

I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New York who has been forced to evacuate my home, and I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked 100 blocks home in a stream of other refugees. May I know peace. I am a family member who has just learned that someone I love has died, and I am a pastor who must comfort someone who has suffered a heart-breaking loss. May I know peace.

I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows to stand behind any military action it takes to wipe terrorists off the face of the earth, and I am a loyal American who feels violated and worries that people who look and sound like me are all going to be blamed for this tragedy. May I know peace.

I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether I'll ever feel safe in a skyscraper again, and I am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be a way to make the skies truly safe. May I know peace.

I am the owner of a small store with five employees that has been put out of business by this tragedy, and I am an executive in a multinational corporation who is concerned about the cost of doing business in a terrorized world. May I know peace.

I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that are no more, and I am a television reporter trying to put into words the terrible things I have seen. May I know peace.

I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who will never come home, and I am a boy in a faraway country rejoicing in the streets of my village because someone has hurt the hated Americans. May I know peace.

I am a general talking into the microphones about how we must stop the terrorist cowards who have perpetrated this heinous crime, and I am an intelligence officer trying to discern how such a thing could have happened on American soil, and I am a city official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering of my people. May I know peace.

I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows no limit and I am willing to die to prove it, and I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the enemies of American capitalism and imperialism, and I am a master strategist for a terrorist group who planned this abomination. My heart is not yet capable of openness, tolerance, and loving. May I know peace.

I am a citizen of the world glued to my television set, fighting back my rage and despair at these horrible events, and I am a person of faith struggling to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon the merciful beneficence of God/Yahweh/Allah/Spirit/Higher Power. May I know peace.

I am a child of God who believes that we are all children of God and we are all part of each other. May we all know peace.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), September 27, 2001

Answers

this is the most extrodianary peace pun intended I have seen yet on this episode in the history of our lives. The toll that this incident has taken onthe group consicus of the United States and friends thereof is untold. I feel sorrow for the victims and sadness for the perpetrators of this act of war. As my grandmother used to tellme "hate is like an acid" the vessel that holds it is far more injured than anything that it can be poured upon" tthe vessel that holds that much hate has to be in such pain.

-- denise davis (neezer61@hotmail.com), September 27, 2001.

I am a Christian who is praying at least 15 minutes a day as are millions of other Christians, that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.. Revival is our and our children and grand children's only hope. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), September 27, 2001.

Ok, let me get this straight, Ken. It is okay to pray or discuss religion for the WTC disaster, but not if someone's mother is dieing? Right???

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

Don't mean to be nit-picky but is there any way to verify that Thich Nhat Hanh is the author of this? Just curious because (and I'm no expert) this doesn't seem to be written in his usual style. Not that it detracts from the message of the poem. Just like to give credit were credit is due.

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), September 28, 2001.

Karen, Joy's post above is omni-religious, it fits all the world's beliefs, therefore it is appropriate to all, even atheists would not find it distasteful in any way. So if it offends no one, it is appropriate, now do you understand?

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 28, 2001.


Nice post Joy, thank you.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.

Annie, No, I don't get it. A guy asked for prayer for his dieing mother. He did not specify "christian" prayers only. I am sure he appreicated any "omni-religious" prayers as well. "Omni" means "universal" and I am sure he would have been just appreciative of a Hindu prayer as he would have been for a Baptist. What makes one person's loss any more significant than anothers? I am sure the guy with the dieing mother felt as much heartbreak and loss as those from the disaster.

No one is more valuable than another person. That is why I don't get it. Seems we pick and choose according to who we feel is the most valuable. Which "disasters" are appropriate for discussion and which are not. I am not dimishing the WTC/Pentagon disaster, but when your child has cancer it is as big a disaster was the WTC!

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), September 28, 2001.


Karen, in this instance I believe Ken is allowing this "prayer" to remain posted because of the "greater benefit of the greater good", which in a nutshell does indicate that helping millions of people cope with the 9-11 tragedy is indeed more important than helping one. But the key importance remains that it offends no one, even non- demominational prayer requests for a single person may offend the atheists.

Besides, even though labeled a "prayer", I don't consider this posting to be of a religious nature as a whole, I find it to be a way of coping with the disaster that occured on 9-11, and how we as a nation might look at this with a different viewpoint, not one of revenge and warfare, but one of compassion and empathy towards our fellow man.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 28, 2001.


Bren, no idea how to confirm. It was emailed to me, attributed to Thich Nhat Hanh, so I passed that along.

Karen, I understand what you are getting at, BUT there have been many "not related to homesteading" topics regarding the attacks on the WTC, and I felt that this would be accepted in that spirit. If Ken wants to delete it, that's his decision.

Copy it and post it to other boards if you're afraid it will disappear.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), September 28, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ