Celebrations Read online

  Heal, we pray.

  Heal, we pray.

  Heal us all,

  We pray.

  PRAYER

  Father Mother God, thank You for Your

  presence during the hard and mean days.

  For then we have You to lean upon.

  Thank You for Your presence during the

  bright and sunny days, for then we can

  share that which we have with those who

  have less.

  And thank You for Your presence during the

  Holy Days, for then we are able to

  celebrate You and our families and our

  friends.

  For those who have no voice, we ask You

  to speak.

  For those who feel unworthy, we ask You

  to pour Your love out in waterfalls of

  tenderness.

  For those who live in pain, we ask You to

  bathe them in the river of Your healing.

  For those who are lonely, we ask You to keep

  them company.

  For those who are depressed, we ask You to

  shower upon them the light of hope.

  Dear Creator, You, the borderless sea of

  substance, we ask You to give to all the

  world that which we need most—Peace.

  Amen.

  DEDICATED TO

  Brandon Bailey

  Johnson Caylin Nicole Johnson

  Elliott Jones

  Lydia Stuckey

  Also by

  MAYA ANGELOU

  AUTOBIOGRAPHY

  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

  Gather Together in My Name

  Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas

  The Heart of a Woman

  All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes

  A Song Flung Up to Heaven

  ESSAYS

  Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

  Even the Stars Look Lonesome

  POETRY

  Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ’Fore I Diiie

  Oh Pray My Wings are Gonna Fit Me Well

  And Still I Rise

  Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?

  I Shall Not Be Moved

  On the Pulse of Morning

  Phenomenal Woman

  The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

  A Brave and Startling Truth

  Amazing Peace

  Mother

  CHILDREN’S BOOKS

  My Painted House,

  My Friendly Chicken, and Me

  Kofi and His Magic

  PICTURE BOOKS

  Now Sheba Sings the Song

  Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

  COOKBOOK

  Hallelujah! The Welcome Table

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Poet, writer, performer, teacher, and director Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas, and then went to San Francisco. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, beginning with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she has also written a cookbook, Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, and five poetry collections, including I Shall Not Be Moved and Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing? as well as the celebrated poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she read at the inauguration of President William Jefferson Clinton, and “A Brave and Startling Truth,” written at the request of the United Nations and read at its fiftieth anniversary. “Amazing Peace” was read at the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., in December 2005, while “Mother” was written especially for Mother’s Day, May 2006.