"We Lost Our Innocence Today, Again"

We lost our innocence this morning.
Again.

We learned like children that life can be cruel..
Again.

We changed our visions of home, family, safety...
We wondered about going home for the holidays by flying,
Wondered if a 2 pm appointment would happen,
About getting home to do dishes left in the sink til evening...

We are like children who've been sheltered,
Terror has always been a rented movie on the weekend.
We've never had fear as our daily companion.
We were safe for a trip to the mall, with money to spend.

We always knew there was milk and bread at the store for us.
We always knew we would be right back from here or there
To take up our lives just where we left them,
Like children at play in a world without care.

Wide eyed we realize they won't be right back.
Amid tears we know they won't be home for the holidays.
Suddenly we know someone doesn't like us, A Lot!
We should wonder and examine and question our ways.

What awful thing did we do to deserve such hurt?
We were just going about our daily routine.
We have seen TV images of far off wars and cried.
The pain of those poor people was awful to be seen.

Who could do such cruelties in the name of God?
"How can they do such things to people?" then we pray.
And we eat our suppers in peace and sleep safely in our beds,
While the suffering goes on thousands of miles away.

Why do men destroy each other in the name of their God?
Why do they think up horrors and then blame it on God?
Why do we think our God is better than their God?
Why does God let us all get away with such things?

We lost our innocence this morning, again.
And we are no longer little children at play.
We share in the pain of those we watch from afar.
We lost our innocence on this terrible day.

Now we see with new eyes through tears and pain.
Grieving we stand to face the tasks ahead.
Rebuild not just buildings and planes and lives,
But bury hatred along with our beloved dead.

Answers to the questions lie in loving response.
For revenge begets revenge, hatred reaps the same.
Our enemy is ourselves, if we refuse to learn,
We are our brother's keeper, no matter what his name.

We are brother to the men whose homes are stolen and burned.
We are sister to the women whose children starve on a cot.
We are father to the child crying hungry and afraid.
We are wife to the man dragged into the streets and shot.

We are the hatred, we are the rage, we are the pain.
We are our brother's keeper, we share a common dream.
We must open the windows of our souls and learn to see
We are our brother's keeper, time to share more than a dream.

We lost our innocence today and it's far past time.
We are one family, our colors and beliefs may not be the same,
We had our eyes opened painfully to lessons we must learn.
We have common ground, common needs, we are the same.

My God and Your God may not wear the same name.
But My God and Your God, cries for all the same.
Your God and My God, wants us to share creation.
Your God and My God, loves us all, Blessed be God's Name.

©Paula September 15, 2001