The Sound of the Rising Tide
(by Phap Linn)
We children of the Earth
Scattered far and wide
We heard the call, the distant call,
the mighty call, of the of the rising tide
And our hearts aflame with remembering a memory beyond recall
We came to build
A community of love
To learn, to train, to serve
To embrace all our pain
And though we stumble and fall
we vow never to abandon
Our community, our path
And you, our teacher
We walk for you,
for our forbears and descendants
and on the long road
each step becomes legend
Long did we seek, long did we wander
On lonely paths, and broken roads until we found you
Our teacher of old
And not in vain, our fallen tears
Now rain of new hope together again
We’ll go on,
Our trust restored, our faith renewed
Our anger calmed, our joy reborn,
Many hearts one aspiration
Side by side
in times of joy, and through despair
in times of light and through the darkness
We release all our afflictions
heal and transform
Oh, children of the earth brothers and sisters
now let us go forth together to live the holy life
with the earth our mother as witness
to the strength of our vow
And we’ll bring back the refreshing spring
To the mountains and to rivers,
Rising thunder, cresting waves,
We go on
And we will cross the valley,
Of birth and death
To find you,
And look once more in your eyes
In the ancient forest, the old path white clouds overhead,
We stand together
smiling to the mystery
All sorrows at an end
All fear forsworn,
Compassion springs anew
Great love is in our hearts
In the vast sky, both sun and moon, are lighting our way
And our hearts aflame with remembering
A memory beyond recall
the sound of the rising tide (4x)
