Completely One

Jesus prayed, "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:20-26


Completely One

Carved from the same ancient wood
felled together in olden times
the voices of the ancestors ring within
and we are completely one.

Bent from years of mending nets
the daily walk of the faithful
the old familiar hymns sing again
and we are completely one.

Torn from the comfort we know
at a loss of how to proceed
changes have made us afraid yet
we are completely one.

Buried and yet resurrected
broken yet miraculously healed
marked and carved repeatedly
and we are completely one.

Silenced and shamed for generations
our language and clothing burned
homeless and relocated every decade
and we are completely one.