We pray for children

We pray for children
     who sneak popsicles before supper,
     who erase holes in math workbooks,
     who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
     who stare at photographers  from behind
          barbed wire,
     who can't bound down the street in a new
          pair pod sneakers,
     who never "counted potatoes"
     who were born in places we wouldn't be
          caught dead,
      who never go to the circus,
      who live in a X-rated world.
We pray for children
     who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of
     dandelions,
     who hug us in a hurry and forget their
     lunch money.
And we pray for those
     who never get dessert,
     who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
     who watch their parents watch them die,
     who can't find any bread to steal,
     who don't have any rooms to clean up,
     whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
     whose monsters are real.
We pray for children 
     who spend all their allowances before Tuesday,
     who throw tantrums in the grocery store
          and pick at their food,
     who like ghost stories,
     who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and
          never rinse out the tub,
     who get visits from the tooth fairy,
     who don't like to be kissed in front of the
          carpool,
     who squirm in church or temple and scream
          in the phone,
     whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
     whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those
     whose nightmares come in the
          daytime,
     who will eat anything,
     who have never seen a dentist,
     whom aren't spoiled by anybody,
     who go to bed hungry and cry themselves
           to sleep
     who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried
     and for those who must,
     for those we never give up on and for those
     who don't get a second chance.
For those we smother ... and for those who will grab
     the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.
                             - INA  J.  HUGHS

From one line to the next ... one breath to another ...

one child to their neighbor ...

this prayer points out how we are each a part of each other,

all closer than our very breath.

What a reminder this is that what I may do for anyONE

effects  everyONE.

May this day find me loving and tolerant of all ...

generous and kind to all ...

present and kind to all ...

we are all ONE!!!

cate