Sometimes it takes a flood to wash away the dirty refuse,

the piles of lies, deceits, and false promises that momentarily give hope to the hopeless.

Noah’s Ark floated above the lost while all below were wiped out,

the good and the bad alike.

God does not have to step in to clean up our current world.

We will bring on our own flood: with conflict over power and wealth,

with refusal to see the oceans rising.

It will wipe out all in the end, the good and the bad alike.

We are lost until we listen to the shouts of the poor: until we see the destruction of nature; until we feel the pain of all mankind, until we look for reasonable answers.

There are solutions within our reach and imagination.

We must build an Ark of truth, hope, and universality.

We need conversation and honest exchange between young and old, men and women,

religions and government, everywhere and all included.

The waters are rising.