Why Is the World the Way It Is?
About this article
This prayer by a teenage girl from Listen for a Whisper asks a lot of good questions, questions many teenagers face all the time.
Why is the world the way it is?
Why is it full of wrong?
Why are her eyes so big?
Why is his neck so long?
Why is she so dark?
Why am I so light?
Why is she called black?
Why am I called white?
Why am I so tall?
Why are you so short?
Why is she so kind?
Why does he have no heart?
Why is there such a thing as war?
Why do people die?
Why do people cheat and steal?
Why do people lie?
Why are people so prejudiced?
Why do people judge?
Why do they point their fingers at others?
Why do they hold a grudge?
Why do people make promises,
that they know they cannot keep?
Why do people cry?
Why do they have to weep?
Why do people have to suffer?
Why do they have to be ill?
Why do some people get so much to eat,
when others don’t even get a meal?
Why are there so many problems
with answers on which we cannot rely?
Why are there no explanations?
Why are there so many whys?
Acknowledgments
This article is adapted from Listen for a Whisper: Prayers, Poems, and Reflections by Girlsedited by Janet Claussen and Marilyn Kielbasa, published by Saint Mary's Press. Copyright © 2001 by Saint Mary's Press. Permission is granted for this article to be used for classroom or campus ministry purposes. This article may not be republished in any form without written permission from Saint Mary's Press. To order this books, contact Saint Mary's Press at 800-533-8095, or visit our online catalog at www.smp.org/catalog.cfm.Published September 11, 2001.
