Interspirituality: A Path to Peace and Justice in a Divided World
Poems and invitations from One Spirit Learning Alliance’s Workshop at the Freedom Rising Conference at Marble Collegiate Church, NYC, on April 27, 2024, 3:45pm-4:45pm ET.
Journey With Us
In our innermost depths, there is a spark.
Something more than us that calls.
From deep within and far beyond.
By it we are bound to one another.
By it we are compelled and equipped to act.
Interspirituality is a communal practice of consciousness of the sacred, the connection it facilitates between all existence, and the service to the world this awareness inspires.
This consciousness transcends rational understanding and language, dogma, and any one tradition. Instead, it is an experience of intimate awareness with the truest sense of yourself and the oneness we share with Spirit and each other.
Here at One Spirit, we believe this consciousness and connection transforms our ways of being such that love becomes our guide to living lives of authenticity, integrity, and compassionate service to the world.
Today, we invite you into an opening of your heart and mind as we celebrate the transformative power that unfolds when individuals share their experiences and knowledge and access the collective wisdom of the world.
By Warshan Shire
they set my aunts house on fire
i cried the way women on tv do
folding at the middle
like a five pound note.
i called the boy who use to love me
tried to ‘okay’ my voice
i said hello
he said warsan, what’s wrong, what’s happened?
i’ve been praying,
and these are what my prayers look like;
dear god
i come from two countries
one is thirsty
the other is on fire
both need water.
later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.
Don’t say that I will depart tomorrow—
even today I am still arriving.
Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.
I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.
The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.
I am a mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.
I am a frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.
I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.
I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am also the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.
I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his “debt of blood” to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.
My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.
Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up
and the door of my heart
could be left open,
the door of compassion.
Sending Ripples of Inspiration & Connection
An invitation to spread joy.
Big change often begins with just small ripples that merge and grow as more connections are made.
We all make waves in life, good or bad. here is an opportunity to spread positivity and connection by sending a simple postcard. With so many of today’s interactions happening electronically, who doesn’t enjoy receiving a tangible reminder of our connections to each other? A little surprise in their mailbox! We invite you to take a moment to reach out to someone in your life. Maybe they need a simple hello, perhaps you owe them thanks, or maybe it’s been a while since you’ve talked.
The invitation is…
With the card in your hands, picture that person clearly in your mind and heart and visualize them wrapped in all your hopes and wishes for them because, at some point, each of you will touch this same card. And, even with just a simple “thinking of you,” your feelings will flow from the pen onto the card and travel straight to them when they hold it, too! Ripples of your kind intentions radiate through this simple act.
If you would like to receive a set of One Spirit Postcards for this practice, please email info@1spirit.org.
Discover Interspirituality at One Spirit Learning Alliance
One Spirit’s vision is to inspire and advance the evolution of sacred consciousness in service to individuals, communities, and the earth. We accomplish this by offering experiential interspiritual education and professional training to support personal transformation and prepare spiritual leaders to address the urgent needs of the world.
