Young Poet

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

We all fight a daily battle. We deal with so much in this world and

with all the stuff we focus on these days, I thought this poem was a good

one to spend a moment focusing on. The young author of this poem passed

away yesterday. Thought I'd just pass this along.

Smiles from,

Baker - Mom to Jeff (20 yrs. in less than 2 months CHARGEr), Steve

(21 yrs. and serving a Mission in Brazil), and others married with

children of their own.

Idaho, USA

June 24, 2004

Mattie Stepanek, a child poet whose inspirational verse made him a

best-selling writer and a prominent muscular dystrophy advocate, died

yesterday from complications of the disease. He was 13. Mattie began

writing poetry at 3 to cope with the death of a brother. In 2001, a slim

volume of his poems, Heartsongs, was published. The book reached the top

of the New York Times best-seller list. He wrote four more books.

Here's his poem For Our World:

We need to stop.

Just stop.

Stop for a moment.

Before anybody

Says or does anything

That may hurt anyone else.

We need to be silent.

Just silent.

Silent for a moment.

Before we forever lose

The blessing of songs

That grow in our hearts.

We need to notice.

Just notice.

Notice for a moment.

Before the future slips away

Into ashes and dust of humility.

Stop, be silent, and notice.

In so many ways, we are the same.

Our differences are unique treasures.

We have, we are, a mosaic of gifts

To nurture, to offer, to accept.

We need to be.

Just be.

Be for a moment.

Kind and gentle, innocent and trusting,

Like children and lambs,

Never judging or vengeful

Like the judging and vengeful.

And now, let us pray,

Differently, yet together,

Before there is no earth, no life,

No chance for peace

Sept. 12, 2001

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