Monday, January 2, 2012

Rules for a Reason

How many of us know the beliefs of our own religions?
Do any of us have time to study all our leadership's decisions?
We tend to band together in groups that feel comfortable,
Or follow leaders who promise hearts and bellies that are full.
All Christian religions have there genesis in Judaism,
But we don't like to look at redemption through a rule-bound prism.
The rules weren't made to stop our personal harmony,
But to enable our societies, from the strife of war, to be free.
When we all agree that the same god lives in me and in you,
We can honor and nurture each other and our angers will be few.

When we use god as a threat, rather than as a source of strength,
This is not the way almighty power was meant to be spent.
Our many ancestors, mother and father and the rest,
May not deserve our love, but we can each emulate their best.
Adultery of your body's sacred temple and the temple's of other's bonds
Destroys the health and trust that families and societies are built upon.
There are many ways to steal, through deceit, and through unfair pay;
This destroys the fairness, and leaves our society in disarray.
When we lust after each other's goods, husbands, and wives,
We destroy the harmony in which families and societies thrive.

Murder begets resentment and retribution for generations;
This destroys the serenity and safety of all of creation.
And when we accuse others of things they did not do or say
It is difficult to mend the broken bonds we create along the way.
When we don't take time to give thanks and to rest with our clan,
We lose the ability to see divinity in all creation and other humans.
The commandments may be worded and numbered differently in different faiths,
But they have survived as a set of boundaries for the human race.
Until we accept some common ground on which to bring families up in peace,
It is unlikely that the killing of each other will ever cease.