The Mission
A reflection on salvation and human dignity
Who still knows the mission,
The one to save our souls,
When all persons are made whole,
And learn in the end to love
Fairer things that are above,
Than all that lies below?
How have we so badly fallen
Into this dark and brooding pool,
Where we can no longer prove
The light from the darkness,
Real strength from weakness,
Virtue’s honest reward?
One side sets out blasphemies
In everything they say,
The other forces their holier ways
On everyone they meet,
Only then do they greet
With human decency and regard.
How is it that the dark or brown
Have so long been the lower race,
Their look and manner not to higher taste,
When did Heaven agree
To shed such beings as these,
To deem them less than holy men?
Climb the falls and look below;
Tell me what you see.
Has our dream ceased to be,
Fallen, broken on the stones
That now lay claim to fragile bones,
Does death alone have its way?
Listen to the lonesome flute
As bright as the brightest bird’s call,
Asking for the slightest care of all?
Can you hear the moan of Gabriel’s oboe,
Telling of its fainting hope
That human love might finally be known?
Miserere nobis (have mercy on us)
The poem above is a reflection on the film, The Mission. As a musician, I was most struck by Ennio Morricone’s phenomenal soundtrack score.
https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-mission-original-sound-track-from-the-film/714408074
The Mission (Original Soundtrack from the Film) by Ennio Morricone on Apple Music
Listen to The Mission (Original Soundtrack from the Film) by Ennio Morricone on Apple Music. 1986. 20 Songs. Duration…music.apple.com
The film (from 1986, I believe) speaks so clearly to the still ongoing complexities and tragedies flowing from the White European intrusion into the Americas.
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My spiritual director and I were talking about exactly this this week!! I still believe we will slowly use our free will to choose love—whatever our higher power may be. But I will only live to see glimpses!!