Amazing Peace:
A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou
Read by Dr. Angelou at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. in 2005
"Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.
Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.
We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?
Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.
It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.
Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.
In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.
We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.
We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.
It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.
We, Angels and Mortal’s, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.
Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.
"Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem" was first read by Dr. Angelou at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington D.C. in 2005.
Although written in the spirit of Christmas, the poem is intended to be a gift for people of all faiths and encourages us to celebrate and embrace the promise of hope, peace and unity during the holiday season.
The poem offers a beautiful message of acceptance and love that seems to be as current today as ever.
May Peace fill all of our hearts during this blessed season where our ancients roots....the original not often recognized pagan celebration by the Celts/Druids which was the very basis for the timing of the Christian adaptation into our holy Christmas and the strength into glory of the Jewish Peoples during Chanukah/Hanukkah...now overlap in one season and even over one day..a special and rare event of great significance.
Holy of Holies in all ways filled with Blessings for All... all colors, all races, all religions, all belief systems. A time for peace and acceptance and joy in all that makes us alike, and not different.
The light casts out the darkness of all of the projected shadows that seem to overwhelm our world right now. We must always keep in mind..seems to...for that is what projections are. The deepest and darkest parts of each of our collective selves being brought for acknowledgement, transformation and atonement...at-one-ment.
The light casts them out and ushers in glory and goodness and love. For whatsoever we do to one you do to all of our sisters, all of our brothers. To our mothers, our fathers, all of our loved ones, we then are also doing to our selves.
We are the stars in the sky, the molecules in our bodies, part of all that ever was, or ever will be."
Dr. Maya Angelou was one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. Hailed as a global renaissance woman, Dr. Angelou was a celebrated poet, memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Sadly, she passed away on May 28,
Although written in the spirit of Christmas, the poem is intended to be a gift for people of all faiths and encourages us to celebrate and embrace the promise of hope, peace and unity during the holiday season.
The poem offers a beautiful message of acceptance and love that seems to be as current today as ever.
May Peace fill all of our hearts during this blessed season where our ancients roots....the original not often recognized pagan celebration by the Celts/Druids which was the very basis for the timing of the Christian adaptation into our holy Christmas and the strength into glory of the Jewish Peoples during Chanukah/Hanukkah...now overlap in one season and even over one day..a special and rare event of great significance.
Holy of Holies in all ways filled with Blessings for All... all colors, all races, all religions, all belief systems. A time for peace and acceptance and joy in all that makes us alike, and not different.
The light casts out the darkness of all of the projected shadows that seem to overwhelm our world right now. We must always keep in mind..seems to...for that is what projections are. The deepest and darkest parts of each of our collective selves being brought for acknowledgement, transformation and atonement...at-one-ment.
The light casts them out and ushers in glory and goodness and love. For whatsoever we do to one you do to all of our sisters, all of our brothers. To our mothers, our fathers, all of our loved ones, we then are also doing to our selves.
We are the stars in the sky, the molecules in our bodies, part of all that ever was, or ever will be."
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