I am Only One. . .

Today was a challenging day.  Schools (along with everyone on the planet) are being called on to do some fairly extraordinary things.  Stress levels are high and that can bring out our base, selfish, human instincts -- the ones where we look out for ourselves -- and no one else, the ones where we take offense when none was meant, the ones where we throw everyone else under the bus for our personal benefit.   There is such a need for compassion and grace -- maybe now, more than any other time in my life.  And yet, we tend to gravitate to the opposite extreme in times of stress.  I came home venting, eating ice cream, stressed and frustrated, put a dollop of Baileys in my afternoon coffee and came upstairs to my place of solace, and felt more at peace. 

I was excited to have received a little package in the mail today -- some adhesive tabs for my writing journal.  The one I'm using is almost full  -- of anything and everything  --for the last 4 years.  There are some things I want to keep coming back to, so I wanted to mark them.  As I settled into the WordSmithery with my new adhesive treasures and my writing journal, I found this poem I wrote 4 years ago as part of the Teachers Write Program with Kate Messner.  It spoke to me especially today in the midst of so much chaos in my personal little world -- with talk of a Cat 4 Hurricane coming for part of our country, wildfires raging in another part, yet another part that was devastated by storms over the last few days -- with racial turmoil and upheaval high, with Covid/Corona wreaking havoc on everyone's heart. . . . it spoke to me.  Then I spoke it aloud.  Now I "speak" it here -- hoping it will speak to you and you will speak it in your heart or aloud, that you will share it and others will speak it and we will change the turmoil into peace by being "only one" . . .

I am Only One

I am only one, but I am one.
​
Father, help me be one --
That smiles at the one who needs a smile.
Help me be one who lends a listening ear.
Help me be one who reaches out with a hand of help -- not condemnation.
Help me be one who shines with the light of Jesus -- 
One who shares His vision,
One who shares His love for each soul,
One who speaks truth with love and compassion,
One who is willing to STAND!

Stand with those who are alone.
Stand for those who are marginalized.
Stand beside those who are hurting.
Stand firm in truth and justice.
Stand up to those who would take rather than give.
Stand up to those who glean pleasure from another's pain.
Stand up to those who base their judgements on a person's skin color --
      or their profession.
Stand up to those who divide.
Stand up to those who choose evil.

Father, I am only one, but help me be the ONE
That can make a difference today.