May 1, 2002
What shall we do?
by Deena Metzger
Let us now begin the worldwide conversation of the heart
that is calling all of us.
The wisdom we need to guide us is among us.
The wisdom we need to guide us is among all of us.
Let us gather
and trust in the kind of slow and careful deliberations
that all of our wise ancestors understood are necessary
in such times.
This is not the time for opinions.
This is the time for careful consideration.
This is the time to take all the time necessary
to save our lives.
Let us turn, each of us, to the wisdom
in our traditions
and in our communities.
Let us turn to the wisdom of our hearts
and the intelligence of compassion.
There is wisdom everywhere.
It is time to meet with each other
calmly and generously.
To discover in dialogue and among each other
how to be, how to act, what to do.
We have the wisdom among us.
We have the heart among us.
We have the intelligence among us.
If we look to each other, as we must now, for understanding,
something beautiful will come of it
that will save all our lives.
-- Deena Metzger
(Edited into verse by Tom Atlee
from Deena Metzger's open letter of 3/29/02
and approved as a poem by Deena Metzger