Was it Roger McGuinn or his 12-string guitar that gave us the style,

that gave us the sound?

Was it the paper and pen that gave us poems of love and joy, or the minds

of the men that wrote them down?

Was it the notes and the words, or the thoughts of John Lennon

that gave us the songs of peace?

Was it the 30 pieces of silver, or a wicked greedy heart

that made a man betray his friend?

 

Not the tools or the instruments,

but the heart and the hands

have raised the people or ruined the lands.

 

Was it the tractor, or the farmer that planted the wheat ?

Was it the ships, or was it the men that sailed and discovered the new lands?

Was it the madman and the terrorist, or was it the guns in their hands?

Stuff has happened. Things have been done, not by the tools,

but by the hearts and the hands.

Lives have been taken. Blood has been shed.

Mothers sit crying. Children lay dead, not by the tools or the instruments.

The hearts and the hands have killed the people

and ruined the lands.

Kenny D. Hoke