"O Israel, the Lord our God is one."
Who listens, hears this call in consciousness
As did the prophets of the long ago—
Nor can it be denied, once it is heard.
Who hears, must rise and wrestle with the thought
That there is more than one. His heart, his life,
Becomes beset, besieged; no rest hath he
Until the truth, accepted, brings release
In knowing the one Father, one First Cause,
And man, the image, likeness, the effect
Inseparable—united evermore
In a sure sense of love and brotherhood.
Thus Jacob heard and wrestled, won the name
Of Israel, the prince, the child of God,
And found his brother held in Love's embrace.
The nations of the earth have heard the call.
The carnal mind declares that there is war—
That men can hate and strike in treachery,
And brotherhood is but a futile dream.
What say the Scriptures of this carnal mind?
They say that it is enmity with God,
The one I AM revealed to Israel.
This omnipresent Being leaves no place
Nor time for such a mind to operate—
In pure at-one-ment it can have no part.
Where, then, is enmity? It cannot be.
It is a counterfeit, a lie, a myth,
A false belief, to be denied, dismissed,
Forgotten, in the light of that great truth
Of oneness that the Master lived and taught,
The truth that says, "Forgive them, Father-God,
They know not what they do," then waits, steadfast,
Until the storm of falsity is past.
Hear then the call, and answer in thine heart.
Take up the cross, deny each lying claim
Of any life apart from the one Life,
Of any mixture of the false with Truth,
Of any touch of hatred in pure Love.
Press forward toward the high and heavenly prize.
Steadfastly face the light. Thus all may learn
The joyfulness of being one with God,
Knowing true brotherhood that reaches forth
To God, its source, before it turns to shine
In Love's perfection on its fellow man.
