I fling my Joy

O God, I fling my joy
as the birds in the sky.
Quickly the night goes
and I rejoice in the light.
O God, I rejoice for creation
for which you care with your presence
behind, side by side, in front,
beyond and among us.
O God, I fling my joy
as the birds in the sky.
A new day is shining and starting
excited and filled with your love.
Every day, o God, you do this. Alleluia!

West African Prayer
 

Ishallah - God is Great
Islam - Surrender
Barakah - Give Thanks
Credo - I believe

The light of greatness shines forth... as darkness.
Aren't they the same?

The emptiness and silence of the wound...
makes space for the fullness of God.
And so
I stand beneath a tree long dead and displaced
whose dry wood is transplanted to become
the gibbet of another's death.

And as he dies, his blood moisten the wood
which lost its sap in other times and other places.
I don't stand alone,
for there are many who witness
the deaths that strike us dumb.

But God is bigger than us, my friend,
and here we see His power.
And we are many.

Ishallah, Islam, Barakah, Credimus

Rocco Puopolo, s.x. - July 1999
 

Sunset
 
I looked with wondering eyes
at mountains that pierced the skies
endless scenarios
golden rice fields,
blue lakes and enchanted isles,
birds’ songs and monkeys’ screams
gatherings of fishermen by the seashore,
under coco plants…
But it lasted an instant! 
The sun, setting,
disappeared behind the mountains.
The whole world changed appearance,
painted in full crimson red.

(Liberia Bai T. Moor)

Thinking and Living Together
 
Much better
than iron and gold
is the quiet art 
of thinking and living together

Ghana - Michael Dei-amang  
 

A Grandmother's Prayer
 
I could do this forever Lord,
hold this warm baby,
cradle his head to my heart,
smooth the blanket,
stroke his cheek
and whisper over and over,
Lord, may the only shadow
in his life be the shadow of Your wings.
For my child's precious child,
Lord, let there be light,
let there be Christ.

African Grandmother
 

Wait Only

I’m sitting in a corner of the world
far from the lives of important people.
Those who are lucky sit in the middle
and they won’t accept me.
I’m sitting in a corner of the world
and I can only wait,
trying to forget.

Ghana - G. Awanor Williams