In her poem, “A Brave and Startling Truth”, Maya Angelou tells us a startling truth about ourselves as humans: that we have the ability to create peace and freedom for all. She says:
We, this people, on a small and lonely planet
Traveling through casual space…
To a destination where all signs tell us
It is possible and imperative that we learn
A brave and startling truth…
And when we come to it
We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe
Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger
Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace
Out of such chaos, out of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines.
And when we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body…
Have the power to fashion for this Earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear.
When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it.
Gracious God, give us the courage to trust in our ability to create peace, and may we all take steps necessary to achieve it.—AMEN.
(“A Brave and Startling Truth” by Maya Angelou)