We Carried One Another

Recently I have gotten into spoken word poetry. I have found it to be my favorite medium when it comes to writing. It combines my love of words with my love of theater and it becomes a place where my voice comes alive. Last night I found myself zoned out a little bit. It is typically when I feel zoned out that my walls come down allowing my subconscious to come out more. It is during these times that I find it easiest to write. Last night I pictured myself in front of an audience, as I always do when I write, and when I was done I read over what I had just written and I knew that I had to share this. Now keep in mind that this is meant to be spoken so the tone and voice inflection does not come across perfectly when simply reading the text.

We Carried One Another
By: Amanda McGowan

Sometimes I wish I could fly into outer space 
To see the world from a whole new place 
I wonder what the world would look like 
If I were not subject to what I have seen or heard 
But rather I could see the world from the perspective of God 

I like to think that if I saw everything I could finally have all the answers 
And that if only I had enough money to travel the world 
Then maybe I could understand a whole lot more 
However that is not where I am called to be 
I am called to be here in this moment with you 
On this very day I am called to this moment where nothing exists but you and I 
I am here saying these words that may be forgotten the moment I step off this stage 
But I still find myself up here speaking hoping that you will listen to me 
Even though I'm just another person 
I'm just another person trying to find my place in this big world 

I don't know where I'm going or where I'll end up 
All I know is that I'm here in this place with you 

I like to think that in a single moment the world can change 
That I can do or say the right thing and a difference will be made 
I don't know if I will ever make any of those things happen 
But what I do know is that I can love 

I can love you like no one has ever loved you before 
I know that if you tell me something that goes against everything I ever believed 
Then I am going to do my best to prove you wrong and if I can't 
I will get down on my knees and I will look up to you and say 
Teach me please, because I've got a lot to learn and I can't do this on my own 

And when you've taught me something I will go and I will share it with others 
So when you meet my students one day, you will know that you made a difference 
When my students come to me and they thank me for all that I have done 
I will say "you can thank me but also thank my teacher" 

And in a world of endless teachers and preachers 
We find that we are not individuals who just happened to be stuck on this planet we call Earth 
We are a people living and breathing in this world that we share 
And that when I exhale my carbon dioxide will be taken into a plant that will transform it into oxygen 
That you will then breath into your lungs 

We are people that are connected 
And though we may fight and wars may break out 
We are a people and we are the same 
No matter where we come from or what we believe 
We will together be free to say what we believe 

And together we will walk along this path called life 
We will stumble and trip scraping our knees 
We will bleed from the thorns caught on our veins  
But we will stand, putting out an arm for each other 
We will wrap our arms around each others shoulders 
Carrying each other as far as we can 

And when we think that we've got nothing left 
Our wounds will start to heal and we will get a little stronger 
Go a little farther and we will carry one another 

Without each other this life ain't working 
If we did it on our own then there's something we did wrong 
So if you think that you've got it all figured out 
Speak a little louder because I'd like to know what you've figured out 
I'll tell you what I've learned and you'll share with me too 
And in those moments that we share we will carry one another 
We will get a little stronger and we will go a little farther 
We will climb all the way to the top of the mountain 
We will look down below and see how far we've come 
And with our arms stretched out holding one another 
We can speak to God above and say 
"We didn't know what we were doing, so we climbed up here to you 
Here are my brothers, we carried one another"

Reflection:

Background: Over the past year one of the most valuable lessons that I have learned is that I am not always right. In fact, I find that often I am quite wrong about things. It is a hard lesson to learn no doubt but this ability to accept that we are wrong allows us to see the world with so much beauty. When we open ourselves up to new ideas we open ourselves up to beauty and love. This idea of seeing the world with a new set of eyes has been on my mind a lot lately and it has become something that I strive for.

In addition, over the past week I have probably heard 3 homilies on the subject of keeping our focus on the destination ahead. So often we get easily discouraged and distracted that we forget what and where our destination is. Lent is a time when we should do this most and it is also a time when it is easy to struggle with this.

Personal thoughts: When I was writing the beginning I originally wanted to start at the top of a mountain but I changed it to space because the journey up the mountain had not yet taken place. As I was speaking the poem out loud to myself, doing with my arms what I had written, I realized that my body movement resembled that of Jesus when he was carrying his cross. As I was writing this it hit me that although our desired destination is Heaven, the Earthy form of that destination is at the mountain where Jesus was hung on the cross.

Even Jesus, who is God with us, needed help carrying his cross. So often we like to do things on our own and it can be easy to push people away. No one wants to inconvenience others and it can be hard to share our burdens with others. Opening ourselves to accepting that others want to share our sorrows can be one of the toughest lessons that we learn. However, it can be difficult to know how to love others if we have not let others love us first.

When I got to the top of the mountain I started trying to figure out what I would say to God. I was then reminded that Jesus' last words were, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they are doing." Part of being a Christian is being Christ for others and that means helping our brothers and sisters in Christ climb up that mountain. When we enter the gates of Heaven I imagine it being something that we do together. When I see God face to face at the Heavenly gates I would like to be able to say, "look I brought friends."

Response:

I would love to know what other people take from this poem.
1. What does it mean to you?
2. What mountain are you trying to get to the top of?
3. What is the most difficult part of the climb for you?
4. Is there something you would like to say?
5. I like spoken word poetry, some like art, music, writing, etc. What is your median for communication? I am always interested in learning new ways of how others express themselves!

Feel free to respond by leaving comments or by sending me an email at mcgowan.maria737@gmail.com because I always love hearing peoples' responses.