Beth Lane of Moorhead, Minn. wrote this poem for her son, Joseph Michael Fedore Lane, born April 17, 1996. She says she wrote it "discouraged with actions and inactions of my church, but unwilling to give up or leave." She shares CTA News with her mother, a CTA member, and sent this to us instead of to her diocesan paper.

From a Mother's Heart

My Son shall not be instructed to stick with his own,
To not mingle and join together with others
Who are not of his own religion or race,
Ethnic background or financial status.

My Son shall not be taught that women are second class,
That women are not as holy and blessed as men,
That women are unfit to break the bread
And lift high the cup,
And proclaim and preach God's word to humankind.

My Son shall not be taught manmade laws and ways,
But God's laws and ways,
Which are always inclusive,
Where all people matter and all people count,
Where all people are equal in the eyes of God.

My Son shall not be told
War or violence is right or just or inevitable
Under any circumstance.
My Son shall be taught
That the breaking or killing of a person's mind, heart or spirit
Is always wrong,
Is never just,
And that there are peaceable ways to all differences
If one searches in one's heart where God dwells.

My Son shall not be raised to believe
God is male and limited
But that God is Mother and Father,
Sister and Brother,
The air and earth and wind and stars ,
And lives and breathes and moves and works
Through all creation
Without limitation.

My Son shall not be told he must live or love
Within boundaries or walls,
But shall be shown how to remove barriers
And break yokes
And build bridges.
Through the God of Freedom
My Son is also free
To live his life to the fullest
And to love unconditionally.

My Son is a child of God,
A gift from God.
He belongs only to God,
And I will do everything in my power
To see he knows and understands
God's law's and God's ways,
That he may sow respect and tolerance,
Non-violence and forgiveness,
Justice and mercy and love where there is none,
And water this earth
And renew the hearts of God's own
By the knowledge of the One Great I AM
That lives within him and within all the universe.
And My Son shall carry the Spirit of Hope in his heart always
For a better world for everyone.
For My Son was born of heaven
And heaven is filled with Hope.