THOUGHTS IN MEETING FOR WORSHIP

We come to this place by many different paths,
   bearing our burdens,
   bringing our gifts.
Here, where our paths intersect,
   where our journeys of the Spirit come together,
We become as spokes of a great wheel--
   centered and united by the hub--
   by the Spirit,
   which lightens our burdens,
   and uses our gifts
   in the service of Love.

WAR ZONE

(I am haunted by the eyes of children.)
The eyes of the children
     are filled
     with tears.
They have witnessed---
     stunned and disbelieving---
     what no child should see.
And when the tears dry,
     will sorrow,
     the shock of loss,
     and terror of loneliness
     become
     anger at betrayal
     fear of greater loss
     cold fire of revenge?
I am haunted by the eyes of children.

Camilla Hewson Flinterman, an eighth-generation Quaker, is a member of Oxford, Ohio Meeting.

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