Category Archives: Religion

Organised Religion (Part 2)

Each of us makes our way every day

Spending heartbeats, uncounted confetti

None can be sure of the length of our stay

On paths more knotted than spaghetti

….

Yet many hold their fate to be known

Faith tells them the final destination

This is their choice, their solid keystone

Let’s hope they do find salvation

….

But as countless planets suns’ orbits steer

Through space and invisible matter

What lives such as ours exist elsewhere

Would they, such beliefs, bespatter?

…

Might they argue that lifeforms, capable of morality

Should endeavour to co-exist in peace

Tolerance and respect, not divisive insanity

For the time we hold earth’s lease

Organised Religion (Part 1)

Should a rose be thanked for the perfume it wears?

Must a machine be praised for its labour?

Does a mother expect gratitude because she cares?

Would a deity favour its own over a neighbour?

….

If there is but one god, known by different names

Does it make worship a requirement of believing?

Does one faith have its ear, as each proclaims?

Or are religions simply self-deceiving?

More On The God Thing (In Which God Does America Trust?)

Pantheists think reality shows the divine

Agnostics hold that this can’t be proven

Atheists believe there aren’t any gods

But is that a valid conclusion?

 

Religion seriously troubles me

Is there one that is clearly the best?

How many people make a choice,

Weighing theirs against the rest?

 

Was I born lucky, in the right faith?

Should I feel sorry for those who were not?

Does my God hold me above all of them,

And should they accept their lot?

 

Whose God will decide the fate of the world?

Does mine have plans for you?

Am I allowed to question its will?

Or must that be accepted too?

 

Does God have a personality of its own,

And moods that we need to mark well?

Does it feel anger, if we err on the path?

If so, how are we able to tell?

 

If I have an eternally lasting soul

Let a kind God be the judge of its fate

If that isn’t the one I have just now

I must swap it before it’s too late

 

If your God is actually the one I call mine,

But known by a different name.

Then our differences can’t be all that great

So, we should treat everyone just the same

 

Forming Opinions

If opinion is divided,

Consensus not in sight.

Head and heart may disagree,

But both cannot be right

 

Bring to bear one measure;

The final acid test.

Belief may be convincing,

But evidence is best.

 

Stop the Deaths

It has to stop; it serves no end

Except to fuel a relentless trend

Religious difference, sectarian strife

Cannot justify taking life

 

We are all people, making our way

Our differences don’t give cause to slay

Calm hot tempers, counsel care

Terrorism leads nowhere.

The UK General Election

A cross put on a paper

Seems simple in a way

Amazing, then, that this small act

Empowers each to have a say

 

The outcome isn’t as I’d hoped for

I’m quite worried by the result

But I can accept the majority view

That’s what it means to be adult

 

Some people see it differently

Wanting to impose a new regime

Cars, bombs and knives as weapons

Murdering to achieve their dream

 

Let them not take away our rights

Hold our laws and freedoms dear

They must not win by violence

We will not live in fear

 

If society is built on values

With some common moral code

Life and liberty are the bedrock

And democracy the road

A Fundamental Truth

 

dark sky

We knew it was to happen

Somewhere within a crowd

More terror visited uselessly

To try to make us cowed

 

The carnage and the mayhem

The tragic loss of life

This time a home-made IED

Last time a car and knife

 

What sort of mind can plan this

How mad must someone be

To be a bomb, a murderer

A lunatic running free

 

This cause cannot be justified

Though perhaps I waste my breath

There is no place in paradise

Secured through others’ death

 

 

 

 

One’s Lot

Pain and suffering

Misery, fear

Common hardships

Many must bear

 

Though some exist

Without such woes

Not mindful how

For others, it goes

 

But all will know

They share equal fate

When time is up

On that future date

 

What if, then,

Each gets their due

And what lies in store

Is all up to you?

 

If not so, fine!

Carry on as before

No need for insurance

Unless you’re not sure

Unable to Stop the Winds of Change

003Unremarkably, the once still air begins to shift

Unnoticed, a zephyr wafts and eddies at your feet

Unaware, the leaves begin to dance in the breeze, grasses swirl, clouds scud

Unconcerned, draughts probe gently at loose clothing

Unhurried, gusts find purpose pushing against your weight

Unworried, you shield your eyes from wind- borne dust

Unthinking, you look down, leaning into the strengthening blusters

Unsighted, white horses race squall-tossed waves at sea

Uneasily, you brace your feet and set your chin to the storm

Unstable, branches break, boughs bend, roof tiles rattle

Unheard, distant winds circle faster, angrier, roaring, rumbling

Unbalanced, staggering, losing footing, hands clasp for purchase

Uncertain, heart pounding, succour is sought, prayers offered

Unknowing, whether the hurricane will pass, and you will be spared.