Uncultivated Peace
Ft. Seth Paul Williams
When the world holds too much to bear
When the waters rise
When the shadows grow vast
and my fear feels overwhelming
When men and women run awry
And children follow suit
When politics rage on
And the powers fall victim
When the victims sink deeper
Beneath mountains of indifference
My mind races to religious thought
Pointing fingers at God
For what we have done to our finite earth
For what we have done to each other
Releasing ourselves of any blame
For some reason thinking that
Our God will not hold us responsible
But see, if my Christian faith
tells me the truth then shouldn’t I want
to hold fast to my convictions to be
Stewards of this land, to be
Protectors of the powerless
I am not here to judge your faith
Or lack thereof but instead to appeal
To a common interest
A common love
Him, her, it
Whatever you call nature
Man, woman, us
Whatever you call humanity
There is no denying
the beauty that she holds
The bond that we share
When I rest beside streams
Of peaceful glacial water
That provides the highway
for Salmon to soar
When I stand up in unity
With sisters and brothers
To chart new trails
For the marginalized to rise
In the presence of the quick but still water
My soul rests and finds peace
In the activism of swift but steady justice
My spirit is fueled and finds vigor
Because here I feel free
Inspired by readings of scripture from Isaiah 40, Psalm 23, a poem by Wendell Berry called, "The Peace of Wild Things", and my own wrestling with faith amidst current issues.
