One of the first things we humans did when we looked around the world
and realized everything was not the same…
was to begin labeling those things around us…giving everything a name.
We are humans, they are elephants, that’s a bird…that’s a bumblebee.
That’s a rock, there’s a rabbit, that’s a flower…that’s a tree.
We used labels to help us understand our family…
He’s my father…she’s my mother
she’s my aunt, he’s my uncle…she’s my sister…he’s my brother.
But somewhere along the way we found labels achilles heel….
when the labels we gIve each other influence how we think and how we feel.
We moved from being humans…where everyone is kin….
to labeling each other by our sex, our gender…and the color of our skin.
No longer were we merely humans…I a human me and you a human you…
we became Muslims, Christians, Catholics…immigrants and Jews.
The more we react to these labels…she is straight…or he is gay
the more we watch our shared humanness slowly slip away.
Somehow the labels that should be used to celebrate our differences…
just like the butterfly and the bumblebee
became labels used to incite hatred, contempt, prejudice and bigotry.
And the more and more we abuse these labels…the more and more we see
not only do we lose our shared humanness…we lose our humanity.
I pray for the day we travel back…to a time when everyone agreed…
human is the only label…we humans will ever need.
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