We are the children of the earth
From which we were all created;
Through which we were all nourished;
For which we were all responsible.

We are people in Community,
With those in the past who have nurtured
The flames and vision of peace and justice;

With those in our present who persevere in the
Hope for the continuity of Life;
With those in the future who will, one day,
Celebrate the Oneness of the world.

We are here today because of a dark past whose memories will not let us go;
We are here today because the agonizing cries of a people caught in the
fires of war must never be stilled;

We are here today to say with the people of compassion everywhere,
No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis! No more Hibakushas!**

and so with kindred spirits gathered here and there and everywhere,
remembering a destructive past,
resolving a constructive present,
and seeking a creative future

we say:

LET US TOUCH THE EARTH AND LET US TOUCH ONE ANOTHER,
AND KNOW THAT WE ARE IN SOLIDARITY NOT ONLY WITH
WHERE WE STAND;
AND WITH THOSE WHO ARE AROUND US,
BUT ARE ALSO IN UNITY WITH THOSE WHO, TODAY FALL VICTIMS TO THE
INSTRUMENTS OF WAR AND THE ARROGANCE OF POWER-HUNGARY NATIONS;

Let us touch the earth and let us touch one another,
And know that we possess the gifts and the sources of a Holy Power
With which to create the instruments of Peace and a human place of caring and compassion;

LET US TOUCH THE EARTH AND LET US TOUCH ONE ANOTHER,
AND KNOW THAT WE SHARE ALL ON THIS PLANET A COMMON DESTINY
OVER WHICH WE HAVE ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY.

Our credo for Peace was born in choices made for us a long, long time ago,
imbedded in the essence of what it means to be human and
to know that we are called to affirm
Life over Death,
Peace over War,
Creation over Destruction.

LET IT BE SO FOR THIS GENERATION AND FOR GENERATIONS TO COME;
LET IT BE THAT WHEN WE TOUCH THE EARTH AND TOUCH ONE ANOTHER,
WE WILL GENERATE, NOT A WAR TO END ALL LIFE,
BUT WILL IGNITE THE SPARK
GIVING BIRTH TO NEW LIFE,
AND THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROMISES OF PEACE!

*Prepared for a community commemoration the anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Day, Los Angeles, CA, August 6, 1986 by Rev. Wesley Yamaka, now of Keizer, OR.
**Survivors of the atom bomb

Acknowledgement : http://www.asiapeace.org/

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