Tikkun Magazine, Winter 2011

 To You Who Are Kind,

         Who Walk In The Ways of Peace,

                  I Say

                  by Jonathan Klate

To you who are kind

Who walk in the ways of peace

Aware of the eternal light

Shining

In the eye

Of everyone

Who know

That the abundance of creation

Is here to be shared among all who have need

Who search beyond the limits of yourself

To know the common being of all

Who understand

We are inseparable

Emanations of Earth

Out of which we emerge and to which we return

Our common sustainer

Inherited from our forebearers

To be bequeathed

Unspoiled and undepleted

To our children

Who recognize that all nation states

Are temporary forms of convenience

To be imbued with as much righteousness as possible

For their brief moments of existence

To caretake the regions of the one Earth

Under wise stewardship

To distribute equitably the gifts

Within their borders

Among all who find their homes therein

Who value all of the children of the one Earth

Of all colors and sizes and abilities

Knowing each to be

An utterly unique and special being

Worthy of life

Nourishment

Safety

Encouragement

Who nurture the fulfillment of every person

According to their own kind nature

To love one another

Man to man and woman to woman

Woman to man and man to woman

Who study the ways of peace

To you

Who come by this wisdom

Through scripture and tradition

Arcing back through countless generations

Carried forward into the present moment

Of feeling somehow chosen for this

And choosing it in return

The blessed responsibility

Of serving the highest vision

Of consciousness and compassion

To live in the ways of Tikkun Olam,

Moved to the endless mission

Of healing the broken heart

Of the one world and its people

While remembering ceaselessly

The first commandment

To Listen

To know

The One

To you I say

            Shalom!

And to you

Who come by this wisdom

Through faith in the divine promise embodied by Jesus of Nazareth

As the light made visible by the Almighty source of creation

In Whose image the most humble of us have our being

To you I say

 

            Hallelujah!

 

And to you

Who come by this

Through surrendering thy will

To the will

Of Allah

As revealed by His prophet Muhammad

May peace be upon Him

In the Holy Qu'ran

To you I say

            "Salaam Alleicham!"

And to you

Who come by this

Through patient exploration

Of the inner nature of our being

Realizing that the one light

That animates you

As Atman

Animates all

As Brahman

To you

I say

            "Namaste!"

 

And to you

Who come by this

Through the enlightenment of the Awakened One

Who taught the inseverable truths

Of impermanence

And

The suffering that comes

Through identification

With all that must pass away

And lovingly encouraged

Pursuit of insight

Into the ceaseless dynamic

Of change of change of change

There being

No being

But all being

To you I say

            "Om mani  padme hum"

 

 

And to you

Who come by this

Through communion with the spirits of the ancestors

Who taught the sacred nature of the Medicine Wheel

Honoring the four cardinal directions and the four sacred colors

Discovering the center of the circle of life in yourself

And in all beings

In all of the forms of being

To you I offer the pipe of communion

With each and all

Comprising the Great Spirit

And say

            "Ach'i' hozho!"

And to you

Who come to this

By virtue of respect

For life and one another

Who cannot abide the discomfort of your brother or sister

Which might be eased by your kindness

Who feel no need for any greater or higher power

Than the merciful conscience that abides within

And reveals that injustice to any is the concern of each

To you

I say

            "Thank you, my friend!"             

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Source Citation: Klate, Jonathan. 2011. To You Who Are Kind, Who Walk In The Ways of Peace, I Say. Tikkun 26(1): online exclusive.