Ecumenism Poem by Justin Reamer

My friend,
You may have heard many
Things about me,
But what I am about to tell you
Is true in every sense of the word.

I may be Roman Catholic,
And I believe in Jesus Christ,
And I love God with all of my heart,
But that does not mean I despise
Other people just because of who they are.
I am open-minded,
And I respect other people
For what they have to say.
I love all of them,
For they are all God's people,
And I love all of their values,
For I believe in ecumenism.
I am open to all religions
And beliefs,
For God moves through all of them,
And no matter what they say,
They are all special.

Atheists I respect a great deal,
For if they do not believe in God,
That is okay with me;
I still love them as human beings
For they are still my brothers and sisters
In humanity,
And they have come to their own conclusions,
And I respect them for who they are.
I do not want to evangelise to them,
And I do not want to push myself on them.
I respect them for who they are
Because they are my friends,
And I want it to be so.
One of my best friends is an atheist,
So I respect him for who he is,
For I love him with all of my heart.

Agnostics are respectable, too,
I respect them for who they are.
They believe in a Higher Being,
But they are not sure who He is,
And I respect their beliefs because
They are my friends,
And I want them to be happy in life.
They are my brothers and sisters, too,
For they are all God's people.
We are all here for a reason,
And I want to be friends with them, too.

I love Judaism,
And I love the way
They express love to each other.
I love Torah,
And all of its majesty,
The trees of life,
And the message the scroll contains inside.
I love Moses and Abraham,
Whom the Jews call Moshe and Avraham,
And I love Yisrael,
Known as Jakob,
And the Twelve Tribes of Israel,
Who descended from Jacob.
I love the way the Jews keep the Law,
In whatever way they see necessary.
I love how they see each other as God's people,
And how they express love to each other.
I love their celebrations,
Such as Hanukkah,
Yom Kippur,
And the Passover,
When they all get together and celebrate
As a family would.
I love all the Orthodox Jews,
The Conservative Jews,
The Reformed Jews,
And the Samaritans,
And whatever other Jewish sects there may be,
For they are my spiritual ancestors,
And my brothers and sisters in God.
I love them with all my heart.
Their ethical monotheism is inspiring,
And it is a wonderful way to look at the world.

I love Islam,
For I love how Muhammad
Was so passionate about God's work,
And I love Muslim spirituality
When they pray five times a day
Toward Mecca,
And I love how they sacrifice so much
To go on a Pilgrimage,
Or a hajj,
All the way to Medina every year,
Just to spend time in prayer and worship.
I love how they fast all day during Ramadan,
Sacrificing themselves to God
Instead of succumbing to their carnal desires,
For it is truly inspiring to give oneself to God.
I love how they try to do the best they can,
And how they see each other as God's people
And as brothers and sisters in Him.
The way they give is amazing,
And the way they live is awesome.
I love the Qur'an and all it stands for,
Especially world peace.
Islam is amazing,
And I love the Word it works.

People may think that Osama bin Laden
Is the symbol of Islam,
But he's not;
Al-Qaeda is no more the symbol
Of Islam than
The Ku Klux Klan
Is the symbol of Christianity;
Islam is not a violent religion;
Instead, it demands peace and love,
Just like any other religion in the world.
I love all the Muslims,
Including the Sunnis, the Shiites,
And any other sect there may be.
I love Islam for what it is,
For God moves through it,
And the people are
My brothers and sisters in God Himself.

I love Hinduism
And everything it stands for,
Especially the way it promotes world peace.
The poetry of the Epics are beautiful,
Such as 'The Ramayana, '
And the 'Bhaghama Vita.'
Its monism is amazing,
How we are all a part of the universe together,
Through Brahman,
Its essential spirit.
Artha is a wonderful thing,
In which we partake of the materials
Of this world;
Kama is another wonderful thing,
In which we experience pleasure.
Dharma, however, is the most wonderful thing,
In which we all do our duties
To maintain the balance of the universe.
We focus on what we need to do and
Forget about materialism and greed in life.
Karma is also wonderful,
In which we are rewarded or punished
Based on how we lived according to our dharma
In our past lives,
For we live the best we can
To fulfil that duty.
The gods and their tales are wonderful images,
Showing the beautiful poetry behind
How the Hindus evolved over time,
And they are all beautiful,
And I love to read them again and again,
Especially when one reads about
Vishnu (when he becomes Rama and etc.) ,
Brahma or Siva,
Indra or Agni,
Or whatever else there is.
It is wonderful.
The Vedas are great,
And the Upanishads are even greater,
In the way they describe Brahman.
It's a wonderful thing to see,
Especially when all the people want
To live in harmony.

I love Buddhism,
And I love Siddhartha Gautama,
The Buddha,
And everything he stands for,
For he believes in trying to submit oneself
To others instead of focusing on the self.
He achieved Nirvana,
And all of his followers try
To achieve the same thing.
His teachings are magnificent,
And his idea of a caste-less society
Was amazing, too.
Meditation is a wonderful thing,
And I find it remarkable,
The way it can bring you peace,
For it is wonderful,
And I know nothing that can be better
For the body and the soul.
I love all the Buddhist sects,
The Mahayana,
The Zen,
And whatever else there is.
They are all wonderful,
And like the previous three,
God moves through this one,
And all the people are
My brothers and sisters before Him.
I love Buddhism and everything
It stands for.

I love Taoism,
And everything it stands for,
Because it seeks balance in nature,
And the Yin and the Yang
Are the balance in the world.
I like how the people strive
To maintain peace in the world
And let the world be as it is,
For the Tao is the harmony of the Spirit,
And of all the world,
And even St. Francis of Assisi
Embraced the Tao a long time ago.
I love Taoism,
And Taoists are still God's people.
I love them with all of my heart, too.

I love Shintoism,
And how it strives for harmony.
The people 'dance' every day when
They worship and when they
Live in peace.
They strive for brotherhood,
And they strive for peace.
It is a wonderful religion
That sees the beauty in nature and
Everything else around it.

I love Sikhism,
And how it strives for peace as well.
It is an Abrahamic religion,
That seeks to serve God
And all of His people.
The way the live is humble,
And the way they focus on community
Is great, too,
For they believe they are all
Brothers and sisters before Him.
They go about their lives,
Living prayerfully,
And they do the best they can
To serve God and His people
Before all else.
Their beliefs are beautiful,
And I love how God works through them.

I love Jainism,
And everything it stands for,
For it is Abrahamic, too,
And it seeks world peace.
Every Jain is good to each other,
Because they are inspired by God
To do good to each other
And to be pacific in all that they do.
They are a docile people,
And some of the kindest people
I have ever met;
I love what they do,
And I love how they live their lives.
They respect God's creation
And God Himself before themselves.
Their egos are perhaps non-existent,
And their stress on solidarity
Is a remarkable thing.

I love Zoroastrianism,
For it is a great religion,
Believing in the balance of good and evil,
With the dualism that comes with it,
Fighting on the side of the good.
Zoroaster was a great man,
And I admire his work.
I love the things that he stood for,
And I love the people who believe in him
And the good god they worship.
They are God's people, too,
So I love them just as much.

I love Confucianism,
And many of the things Confucius stood for,
For he had many great ideas,
And I took many of them to heart.
Yet, I do not like how it was used
To enforce Communism,
But Confucianism,
At its heart,
Was a great thing for the world to see,
For it allowed people to live in harmony above all.

I love Wicca
And the idea of sisterhood
And brotherhood
It involves.
The dualism is great,
And the way Wiccans perform rituals
Together is a beautiful thing,
For they see each other as equals,
And they try their best to make the world
A better place for all to see.
I love them,
And I love what they stand for,
Especially since my friend is a Wiccan.
They promote love and peace,
And God moves through them, too.

As for Scientology,
I am not against it,
But some of its beliefs may be strange,
Yet I do respect their beliefs,
And I love the way they
Try to be good people, too.
Scientologists are still good people,
And no matter how crazy people may say they are,
I still love them for who they are
Because they are people and not drones
From some distant planet.
Their religion requires sacrifice,
And I love the way they are willing
To give themselves to a good cause,
Trying to promote world peace.
They are God's people,
So I love them with all of my heart.

Satanism is a little worrisome,
And I don't know how to respond to it,
But people can believe in it if they want,
And I will respect them for who they are.
As long as a Satanist doesn't hurt me,
I will be fine, I guess,
But I still respect their beliefs,
And because they are people,
I love them for being people,
Not for the sins they may commit
To try to fulfil their duties.
I love the person,
And I hate the sin they may commit.
I believe that maybe they may have good,
But I respect their beliefs,
As long as they are not hurting other people.
I love the people,
Not the actions they commit.
And because they are God's people,
I will always love them unconditionally.

I am a Christian,
A Catholic at that,
So I love all the Christians there are,
The Nazarene, the Pentecostal,
The Christian Reformed, the Reformed,
The Lutheran, The Episcopalian,
The Calvinist, the Anglican,
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic,
The Mennonite, the Amish,
The Shakers, the Friends of the Light,
The Baptist, the Methodist,
The Adventist, the Wesleyan,
The Church of Christ,
The Church of God,
The Unitarians,
The Quakers, the Lovers of God,
The Presbyterian, the Trinitarians,
The Way, the Mormons,
The Latter-Day Saints,
The Jehovah's Witnesses,
The Christian Scientists,
And the Eastern Orthodox Church.
They are all wonderful people,
And we all want to serve God,
And we do our best to help everyone,
No matter what or who they are.
I love my people,
And I love Jesus,
And I love all the people all over the world.
Christians are great, too,
For I am one, also.

I am not a bigot or
Anything of the sort.
I believe in ecumenism,
And I love everyone for who they are.
People are meant to be loved,
And I love them for what they believe in,
And since we are all people of God,
I love the way we live together in Harmony.
Solidarity is a great thing,
And it is how we should live.