A hymn written about the Mosque Massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand.

1. Say welcome to the real world,
…A world where crosses grow,
…Nurtured by groups whose “One way”
…Can seem as pure as snow.
…The crosses we find growing
…Are planted in the mind
…That thinks its way of living
…Is best for humankind.

2. Both Leaders and the workers
…All share a common quest
…Promoting their own life styles
…That they all think are best
…But hidden in their thinking
…Lie seeds of hate and death
…Disparaging all others
…Destroying their self worth.

3. As well as grieving deeply
…For tragedy and loss
…We need to look inside us
…And find each inner cross
…That threatens to expand now
…And burn with fiery hate
…The life that we love dearly
…Till death becomes our fate.

4. To counter all this thinking
…We need an open mind
…To other forms of faith-life
…To which we may be blind.
…God’s wisdom has no doorway
…Through which we all must go
…Except the common bonding
…That suff’ring love can know.

Text © William Livingstone Wallace