What Matters To Me

Muslim and Jewish banners in a Catholic church. Brussels, Belgium 2012. Photo by Elisabeth Khan.

What does it matter how you pray?
Whether you light incense or a candle
Kneel, or prostrate yourself
If you finger beads, or how many
If you whisper, sing, or shout Halleluiah!
Recite words from a book
Or invent your own…

What does it matter if your God is
One or many, visible or invisible
Represented by an image, a stone,
A book. If he/she/it dwells
In heaven or in your heart
Or simply everywhere,
Is alive or “dead”?

It does not matter to me how you pray
Or where you say your prayer
Or if you pray at all.
What matters is how you love
How you treat your fellow humans
All that matters to me
Is our shared humanity.