January 2009

One Wish

If you had but one wish
What would it be?

Take your time thinking about it.
So much is at stake—
an end to all suffering,
a stop to all violence,
a solution to poverty and all of its ills.

Would you wish for love?
For forgiveness or for healing?

Would you wish the world joy?
Or the wisdom to change?

Would you wish to understand everything?
Or to know less than you do?

Take your time thinking about it.
So much is at stake.
For a wish is a thought,
and a thought is an idea.

An idea leads to commitment.
And a commitment cries out for action.

A wish can be a dangerous thing,
something daring.

And it need not be witnessed by the stars
to come true.

Let us be glad that we are not given just one wish in our lives,
but many.

Let us be grateful not for wishful thinking,
but for the discipline of the thoughtful wishing
that can lead to change.

What would your wish be?

by Lisa Friedman, minister, UU Fellowship of Mankato, Minnesota. Published by Skinner House, 2002, in How We Are Called: A Meditation Anthology, edited by Mary Benard and Kirstie Anderson, this volume is available from the UUA bookstore or through the CLF Library or 617-948-6150.