| Manitonquat’s Prayer 
Hear, oh Humankind, the prayer of my heart..
For are we not one, have we not one desire,
to heal our Mother Earth and bind her wounds
and still to be free as the spotted Eagle climbing
the laughing breath of our Father Sky,
to hear again from dark forests and flashing rivers
the varied ever-changing Song of Creation?
Oh Humankind, are we not all brothers and sisters,
are we not the grandchildren of the Great Mystery?
Do we not all want to love and be loved,
to work and to play, to sing and dance together?
But we live with fear.
Fear that is hate, fear that is mistrust, envy, greed, vanity,
fear that is ambition, competition, aggression,
fear that is loneliness, anger, bitterness, cruelty….and yet, fear is only twisted love, love turned back on itself,
love that was denied, love that was rejected… And love….
Love is life ~ creation, seed and leaf
and blossom and fruit and seed;
love is growth and search and reach and touch and dance.
Love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure.
Love is pleasuring ourselves, pleasuring each other.
Love is life believing in itself.
And life….
Life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself,
dancing to its drum, telling stories, improvising, playing.
And we are all that Spirit,
our stories tell but one cosmic story that we are love indeed, that perfect love in me seeks the love in you
and if our eyes could ever meet without fear
we would recognize each other and rejoice,
for love is life believing in itself.
Oh Humankind, we must stop fearing life, fearing each other, we must absolutely stop hating ourselves, resenting Creation…Life. Oh Humankind, life is the only treasure.
We are the custodians of it, it is our sacred trust.
Life is wondrous, awesome and holy, a burning glory
and its price is simply this: Courage….We must be brave enough to love.
Hear my heart’s prayer, Oh Humankind, trust in love, don’t be afraid,I love you as I love life.
I love myself, please love me too,
love yourself, for perfect love, as a wise one said, casts out all fear.
If we are to live there is not other choice,
for love is life believing in itself.
Above all,
let us set the children free,
break the traps of fear that history has fashioned for them.
Free to grow, to seek and question, to dance and sing,
to be dreamers of tomorrow’s rainbows and if we but give them our trust,
they will guide us to a New Creation,
for love is life believing in itself.
Hear, Oh Humankind, the prayer of my heart.
~Manitonquat. 1971
Manitonquat (Medicine Story) is a medicine man and storyteller of the Wampanoag Nation. This prayer came to him at the first Rainbow Gathering in 1971. This page courtesy of a druid and witches cauldron This page may be used for religious education by nonprofit groups providing information content, copyrights and credits are not altered and/or deleted. Layout, graphics and design may be changed to suit individual needs. ~ 2001, 2002 Indigo Bridge Cooperative |
