This year the service was comprised of prayers, music, and readings. The choir combined a number of Tulsa churches, and the readers included Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The choir and readers entered in a silent procession, and likewise recessed in silence. In years past I have been moved to tears by the requiem and was equally touched by this service. One of the readings was the poem "Remember" by Joy Harjo which begins:
Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the stars' stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
. . . .
Remember that you are the universe and that this universe is you.
Remember that language comes from this.
Remember the dance that language is, that life is.
Remember.
And this hymn sung to the tune of Sibelius' Finlandia
This is my song, O God of all nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home,the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
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