We Have Forgotten Who We Are

We Have Forgotten Who We Are

from chapter 7 of Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy and Molly Brown; second edition, published 2014. Please acknowledge the source when you use any of these practices.

This liturgical responsive reading from the UN Environmental Sabbath can be used effectively as part of Honoring Our Pain, especially before or after an intense practice.  It can be done as a responsive reading, or by passing it around the group, with everyone reading the next sentence as it comes to them. A meditation bell might be rung after each “We have forgotten who we are.”

We have forgotten who we are
We have alienated ourselves from the unfolding of the cosmos
We have become estranged from the movements of the earth
We have turned our backs on the cycles of life.

We have forgotten who we are.

We have sought only our own security
We have exploited simply for our own ends
We have distorted our knowledge
We have abused our power

We have forgotten who we are.

Now the land is barren
And the waters are poisoned
And the air is polluted.

We have forgotten who we are.

Now the forests are dying
And the creatures are disappearing
And humans are despairing.

We have forgotten who we are.

We ask forgiveness
We ask for the gift of remembering
We ask for the strength to change

We have forgotten who we are.

“U.N Environmental Sabbath Program” in Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon, eds. Earth Prayers, (HarperSanFrancisco,1991), 94.