this came in the mail

Date: 16 Jul 2003 22:50:14 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.sexual.abuse.recovery.moderated
Size: 2,550 bytes

i have friends who like to send me these things. i don't usually pass them
on, but this one rocked me unusually and i'm moved to share it.
cal
--------------------------------------------------------------
They're Singing Your Song
When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she
goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray
and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that
every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and
purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud.
Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.
When the child is bom, the community gathers and sings the child's
song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the
village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes
through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together
and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her
song.
Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family
and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their
birth, and they sing the person to the next life.
In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the
villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the
person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is
called to the center of the village and the people in the community
form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them.
The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is
not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity. When
you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do
anything that would hurt another.
A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you
when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by
mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself.
They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness
when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and
your purpose when you are confused.
You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to
you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when
you are in tune with yourself and when you are not. When you feel
good, what you are doing matches your song, and when you feel
awful, it doesn't.
In the end, we shall all recognize our song and sing it well. You may
feel a little warbly sometimes, but so have all the great singers. Just
keep singing and you'll find your way home.