I wrote this poem in 2004. It was inspired by Psalm 27:13, and a poem written by Juan Antillon Montealegre, of Costa Rica, found in the book Prayers for a Thousand Years.

If all goes well

Soldiers
will find no more enemies
and will come back home
Nations will talk
before picking up swords
Tyranny will tumble
Peace will prevail
Even toy companies
will stop producing arms

If all goes well
Politicians
will become leaders
who care more
about the common good
than their own

If all goes well
Religious folk
will grasp the truth
that God is God of all
not a provincial deity
to be trotted out
for self-serving interests

If all goes well
God will appear again
in the stars
waves of grain and water
in egrets, falcons, otters,
sacred waterfalls, clouded skies
God will show up
at the birth of a Muslim
the death of a Buddhist
in the aching breaches of
misunderstanding and mistrust
God will come to Bethlehem
to birth a dream,
to Jerusalem
to unwrap death’s dark shroud
in the light of freedom

If all goes well
if all goes well
as long as we, the people,
don’t destroy earth’s gifts
We will take our children’s hands
so they may feel
protected by gentle love
We will know the joy of laughter
the reality of tears
We will greet one another
with holy kisses
We will live now and always
in the land of the living
Together we will taste and see
the goodness of God

If all goes well
If all goes well

If all goes well

Words (c) 2004 Mark Richardson