Read aloud or silently this poem by Rev. Alicia Roxanne Forde, used with permission.

It feels like We are eyeing one another across a great divide

A divide I sometimes call:

"class, race, ethnocentricity, theological perspectives and its implications for

How We practice, how We live, how We be"

If you be You and I be Me

If We speak truth in love — with love,

If We act, related with integrity

If We unite our spirits . . . open, and aching, and whole, and wanting, and giving . . .

then

the work We engage, the communities We create, the power of who We can be

holds a great promise

a great hope

for us and our wider communities . . . and . . . this . . . matters

What words and images are most powerful for you? How do these words reflect your own reasons for working to bridge "the great divide"? You may wish to write or draw in your journal.