He axed
Are you a Christian?
Sow bound to answer
I am
Though that is a bout
As helpful
As siding the fact
That I am American
When in truth
Such a confining chide
Might only be a parent
As eye more fully scene
As a planetary citizen
Gandhi famously said, “I am a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, and a Jew.” He understood the ever transcendent claim of religion to that which is beyond, including beyond any single religious tradition. Being raised in a particular religious tradition is quite assuredly not the primary form of divine providence. Similarly, the end all and be all of our existence is not simply defined by accidents of birth, whether it be nationality, gender, race, etc. While the particularities of our life on earth, in this solar system, in this universe, provide the delicious details of our story, our special conditions are not only lessens to be learned, confining us to a shadowy prism in a rainbow of creation. 
This poem alludes to the childish nature of making life a bout such parochial commitments. This poem presents a more mature vision of mere nationalism as better scene in the light of awe being passengers on this planetary citizen ship. There is nothing wrong with celebrating our particularities in life, as long as it is not used as a justification for devolving into egocentrism and tribalism. Evolution has more to do with than sects. May we learn to both relax and experience the exhilaration of skydiving into the bigger whole, sow big that it may rightly in compass life and death.
