Shahina

Shahina
A Poem as Prayer

"I led a tour to Russia, Greece, Rome, Egypt and Palestine/Israel in 1971. (Leading tours is how poor people can afford to travel.) I could write a small book on the adventures (and misadventures), often humorous, of this trip.

The night I returned, I sat in a bathtub with a pad of paper and wrote. The poem is what came to me. It was inspired both by the trip I had just led and by two previous archaeological experiences in the Middle East. It describes what happened to me, and the way in which my view of the world changed."

—Ronald G Haznedl

Lord of the Arab, Lord of the Jew

Lord of the Arab, Lord of the Jew
Lord of the old and Lord of the new,
Lord of the Russian, Egyptian and Greek,
Lord of the mighty, Lord of the weak.

Lord of the earth and the vastness of space
Help me see past the nose on my face.
The myriads of stars are the jewels on thy crown;
Help me see past the edge of my town.

The pyramids of Egypt, the forum of Rome,
I am Thy child, so these are my home.
Jerusalem and its struggles, Rome and its glory;
I am Thy child, so these are my story.

From idolatry deliver me, maker of all,
From worshipping one culture as if it were all.
Deliver me from using Thy great name in vain,
By taking my own tastes, and signing Thy name.

Lord of the earth and the vastness of space,
Lord of each nation, Lord of each race,
How magnificent Thy worlds, how complex are they all.
My prayer is that mine will not be too small. —Ronald G Haznedl
©1971 Ronald G. Haznedl, Illinois

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