Only One...

Is my small heart

big enough to embrace

the pain of the whole

Earth? the bereftness

of people everywhere?

the grief of those whose

loss seems never-ending?

the hunger of the starving?

the isolation of the lonely

and rejected and forgotten?

the deep sorrow of the

untimely dying? the even

deeper sorrow of those

from whom hope has fled?

For I am part of them all

and they are part of me-

woven together, inseparably

connected, one in living and

dying, one in hoping and

despairing, one in a circle of

mutual respect and love.

Is my small heart

big enough to welcome

the reality of such Oneness?

Let it be so today.