Standing on the summit with all those who share in my pain and oppression, we cast our eyes to the valley below.
There, camped, are our oppressors. Those who scheme and devise wicked lies against us in order to shame us into despair and hopelessness. Those who publicly rape our emotions and dreams.
Examining their faces, their posture, their every move, we become horrified . . . We recognize each one of them. They are our kinsmen, our neighbors, the mirrored image of those we fight to save. Frozen in fear and confusion, all clarity, knowledge and understanding seeps into the ground below as if an arrow had struck our hearts and we lay bleeding.
And as that last drop of life giving blood trickles down our cheeks we begin to know with a new knowledge and understanding that comes not from ourselves or advice of counsel, but a Knowledge and Understanding that comes from whence the wind blows, and we know we are not alone.
Please pray for me and all those who share in my suffering and oppression as we continue to live in a world consumed with self-interest. That through our faith in one God - the God of Moses, the God of Issac, the God of all - that Peace may thrive in this Season of Advent and throughout all our lives.
May God Bless.
Gloria Valentine
Originally written on December 16, 2004
