Identity Crisis

 

I wrote this piece partially inspired by Peter Gabriel's "Father and Son" song which his daughter Anna so lovingly captured in video form.  Here is Peter, mover and changer in the world, back on the farm with his Dad showing a smile you see nowhere else.  Please continue to support Peter's human rights work at Witness.org.  In conversing with a friend at Starbuck's the other day, we came to realize that many people are held back from becoming the person they can be because they do not yet know who they are.

Within the living,

Within the breathing,

You find the loving,

You find the needing,

To find their places,

And use their voices,

They lack the courage,

To make the choices.

There is a difference,

In change and growing,

In not forgetting,

Where you are going,

Always remember,

Though near or far,

And never forget,

Just who you are.

A new idea,

Can change tomorrow,

But needs the courage,

For it to follow,

First a decision,

Must come to pass,

For any change,

To come at last.

There is a price,

A cost for growing,

With full reward,

In where you’re going,

Always remember,

Though near or far,

And never forget,

Just who you are.

And when we’re idle,

Change comes upon us,

With unknown fury,

World crashes on us,

Forcing decisions,

Unto us giving,

Will we surrender,

Or go on living?

We know our worth,

In change and growing,

When we are pushed,

To where we’re going,

Always remember,

Though near or far,

And never forget,

Just who you are.

What’s that which hinders?

Fear growing within,

The hollow unknowing,

Makes hope grow dim,

Keeps us from trying,

And traveling far,

It comes from not knowing,

Just who we are.

There is a difference,

When life’s born anew,

We feel the changes,

Within all that we do,

Understanding growing,

Like Infinity’s star,

Knowing each day,

Just who you are.