William Barnhill

Beyond this time into another we travel;
In front of what was new but now is old;
Long after all the moments which have become memories;
Further than yesterday, waiting for tomorrow.
With the knowledge of what we have done;
With the determination of what we must do;
Carrying suspicions against all uncertainties;
Believing in history, the past, a confirmation of reality;
Hoping on a dream, the future, our chance for immortality.

With certainty goes our influence, realized upon all things;
All that is will only exist by the responsibility of our stewardship.
So to, all that is may pass away beneath the cloak of our ignorance and self
addition.
With these great oceans and seas we travel forward into another time;
With tall mountains, through forests, fields and deserts;
With every plant and tree, upon every lake, stream;
River or pond, to every city, village and town with all creatures;
Within the fragile oasis we call our home.

We travel into another moment filled with many choices;
Filled with many decisions;
Filled with many directions;
To protect or destroy;
To renew or extinguish;
To grow and expand the knowledge of this;
Country, of this land, of this world, of our universe;
To be blind to change, wallowing in backwaters;
Stagnating among old truths, among old ways;
Afraid to let go, afraid to secure a new beginning, a renewal;
Firmly connected to our past and the work of our ancestors yet revived;
Revived with courses not yet traveled, with visions not yet seen.

Beyond this time we glimpse our future;
In all that it can give we place our hopes and seek out promise.
For we are as much this planet as we are one people;
We are as much the air we breathe;
The ground we cultivate and water which we drink as the sun is to the solar
system,
As the stars are to the heavens.
From afar this blue ball shines as one of a million upon a sea of darkness
From that great distance no people, no countries, no cities
or borders can be seen.
We must see our selves always from that distance as one planet
As one world, riding through space upon this miracle, living
Each day for what ever task is dealt, waiting for a tomorrow
Always with anticipation of something better, of something greater.