Today's Beautiful Gem: `If they fail, we all fail!' by M. Udayakala.

"O Lord, your creation is beautiful;
Black children, white children,
Brown children, yellow children,
Red children-- they are all handsome!

"O Lord, your truths are all eternal;
Buddhists and Christians, Hindus and Muslims,
Jains and Jews, Parsees and Sikhs, and all other people
Speak your word in different tongues and voices.

"We are all your imperfect and incomplete images!
Why don't you make us tolerant of each other?
Why don't you make us respect each other?
Why don't you make us love each other?

"Conquests, migrations, and politics
Make some powerful, rich and important;
Some become extinct, some become slaves,
Some live in darkness and some die in chains.

"The long night is past; a new day has dawned;
Grant the hopeless the hope and the fearful the courage;
Give us all the seed of love and a soil fertile
To grow a tree of life and liberty, of peace and harmony.

"May our brothers who suffered long enjoy happiness;
May they not be addicted to new habits;
May they taste the fruit of knowledge;
May they succeed; if they fail, we all fail!"

Om s'aantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao

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