The Church long stopped speaking to the sacred in me;
More than anything, I've long for them to set my soul free.
I have finally realized that this dream is not to be.
I've missed and mourned the rituals of my youth,
But I fell that they stood in the way of the truth,
And to find it, I have to set my soul loose.
It is time to stop waiting for The Church to make amends,
As I begin to gather with my faithful friends,
And share what has been, to our spirits' sails, the winds.
There have been many manifestations of the sacred in my life,
And so many shared their holiness in my worst times of strife;
To none of their beliefs, am I ready to take the knife.
Every bit of creation has a part - every breath, every seed,
But humans have designed ways to pervert this with our greed.
Do we really think there's not enough to fill all our need?
I want to hear the tales of how individual souls sing,
And these varied voices, to Sacred Scripture bring;
Only then will the bells of The Holiest Spirit ring.
All the universe, we are taught, has one beginning,
And the world of matter has no actual ending;
All energy will ultimately receive a final blending.
So, back to The Genesis all Creation will go.
How it will all be made right, is not ours to know,
Until, back to the Alpha and Omega, all of us go.
Let's put our bonds of individualism onto the pyre.
It is only with many varied voices in the choir
That we get the Celestial Sounds that we so admire.
We were meant to be part of a Universal Plan,
But we limit our dreams by the limits of man.
This has kept us from peace since human life began.
Most of us follow the loud and the strong,
Never imagining that they could be wrong.
It is not too late to heed different songs.
So sing out every child, every woman, man, and beast;
It is time to hear from the ones we've heard least.
Surely, their small voices will not hatred increase.
The strongest of minerals have been tempered by flame,
And by other stressors that go by many names.
Perhaps, out of this too, The Spirit's strength, we'll reclaim.
It's sad that so many religious folk go through the ritual without being moved by the deepest message of the Bible's words. "For God so loved" is for me more than mere words. And I love the next verse even better..."For God sent not His son into the world to condemn...but that the world through Him might be saved." I'm keenly aware that everyone has a different perspective on these things. I have two brothers and two sisters who grew up in the same home under the tutelage of the same parents who came away with very different interpretations of our training. I love them and would not trade them for anyone else...but I see some things very differently. For example, where they see some things as dogmatic and creedal and un-necessary, I see those same things Biblical and guidance-giving, and helpful. No - I did not agree with everything my parents taught - but I thank God that I understand that their efforts to guide me came from sincere hearts. My church has erred also - but those teachings did not harm me. I'm a better man for having had them as a youth to guide me away from those things that would have led down the path of a life of destruction. I think one of the greatest gifts my father passed on to me was the right to disagree with him as long as I did it respectfully. He would say, "You can disagree with me. It's o.k.! But you study the Bible and the church's teachings for yourself and as long as you have Scripture to back up your position, I'll accept it." I've disagreed many times in my youth - only to come to understand and change my views - at least on some subjects. My faith in man has crashed numerous times but my faith in God always has come out strong. Men fail. God never fails. I don't always understand His ways. But I trust Him.
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