A New Hope...

"For Our World"

We need to stop, just stop, stop for a moment

before anybody says or does anything that may hurt anyone else.

We need be silent, just silent, silent for a moment

before we forever lose the blessing of songs that grow in our hearts.

We need to notice, just notice, notice for a moment

before the future slips away into ashes and dust of humility.

Stop, be silent and notice.

In so many ways, we are the same.

Our differences are unique treasures.

We have, we are a mosaic of gifts to nurture, to offer, to accept.

We need to be, just be, be for a moment

kind and gentle, innocent and trusting, like children or lambs,

never judging or vengeful, like the judging and vengeful.

And now let us pray, differently yet together,

before there is no earth, no life, no chance for peace.

"A New Hope"

I need a hope, a new hope, a hope

that reaches for the stars and that does not end in violence or war.

A hope that makes peace on our earth

and that does not create evil in the world.

A hope that finds cures for all diseases

and that does not make people hurt in their bodies,

in their hearts or most of all, in their spirits.

I need a hope, a new hope, a hope

that inspires me to live and to make all these things happen

so that the whole world can have a new hope, too.

The above poems were written by Mattie Stepanek at age 11. He wrote "For Our World", a prayer, on the evening of September 11, 2001.