The Voices of Peace

I found this poem lurking in a notebook I was about to throw out...there are lots of these little gems I have scribbled down in moments frozen in time. They are little nuggets of preciousness I unearth in my fits of organization...this one was obviously written several years ago when Isis made its first noxious appearance, but the message and the question are as relevant today as they were when I penned this...

Where are the voices of peace?

While Isis roars with fright and might

Shaking its fist and killing on sight

While tempers roil and protests boil

Where prejudice reeks and fills our streets

Where are the voices of peace?

The Dali Lama’s of the Christian faith

The voices of Islamic peace and harmony

The spiritual leaders who call for truth in the inward parts

We watch the voices of war and military might roar across our screens

And fill our sight

Looking to leaders to join the fight, protect us from our fears

Injustices, terrors and fright

But where is the spiritual guidance that calls us to look within

Take responsibility for our own hates and fears and sin?

Where are the leaders to guide in prayer, meditation and spiritual care?

Where are their public voices for all to hear?

The voices that remind us who we are

That power resides in spirits united in love

That peace is worth praying and acting for?