Once one harvests one's own garden, what is there left in life?
The end of even a life well-lived seems to be full of strife.
Is there anything that is to be one's highest priority
Once, from the tending of one's responsibilities, one is set free.
What's a parent to do once the resources one had have all been sown,
And not only one's children, but also one's grandchildren, are grown?
If many seeds we have spread on the earth have withered and died,
Should we hang our heads in shame or be satisfied that we tried?
And are we to speak about the beauty of the seeds that have bloomed;
Is it prideful to celebrate the success of that for which we were groomed?
How do we know for certain what we are called to continue to do?
For not only prophets, but servants and parents, the honors at home are few.
Are we to silently sit and wait until we receive a new command,
Or are we to begin to create and follow our own new life's plan?
Even for volunteering, there's a resource price to be paid,
And the thought of outliving our resources can cause us to feel afraid.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Setting Souls Free
What hubris it is to insist that someone stay around
In case there is still time for us to share some common ground.
We must stop insisting that others stay available on earth
In case we have the time and inclination to share their turf.
Those with whom our souls didn't share much common space
May finally live with us in community in an eternal place.
Let them go if you love them; let them seek their places of peace;
With our insistence that they stay on earth, their anxieties increase.
If they feel that they have fulfilled their missions and balanced their energies,
We must allow their minds, their bodies, and their souls to be eternally set free.
In case there is still time for us to share some common ground.
We must stop insisting that others stay available on earth
In case we have the time and inclination to share their turf.
Those with whom our souls didn't share much common space
May finally live with us in community in an eternal place.
Let them go if you love them; let them seek their places of peace;
With our insistence that they stay on earth, their anxieties increase.
If they feel that they have fulfilled their missions and balanced their energies,
We must allow their minds, their bodies, and their souls to be eternally set free.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Disappearance as Death
The worst thing in life is feeling that you've disappeared;
This is how children feel when they are seldom cheered.
This is also how parents feel when left alone at home,
And there are no other adults available, not even by phone.
This is how breadwinners feel when, after a day spent at work,
There is nobody with whom to clear away the outside world's dirt.
This afflicts the old and infirm when we never ask them to assist us,
Or to join us in celebrating the events over which we make a fuss.
Some simply give up defining what they want and what they need;
Others will join packs to fill the voids that make their hearts bleed.
If only we were wise enough to set the proper priorities,
Perhaps we could save the world by cherishing those in our own families.
This is how children feel when they are seldom cheered.
This is also how parents feel when left alone at home,
And there are no other adults available, not even by phone.
This is how breadwinners feel when, after a day spent at work,
There is nobody with whom to clear away the outside world's dirt.
This afflicts the old and infirm when we never ask them to assist us,
Or to join us in celebrating the events over which we make a fuss.
Some simply give up defining what they want and what they need;
Others will join packs to fill the voids that make their hearts bleed.
If only we were wise enough to set the proper priorities,
Perhaps we could save the world by cherishing those in our own families.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Protecting Our Progeny
I've heard it said, "God can't be everywhere; that's why we need mothers."
I say, "Mothers can't be everywhere; that's why we need the godliness of others."
It has forever been that which makes us feel safe is knowing to whom we belong.
Its easy to say that we're all children of God and to think otherwise is wrong;
Humans weren't made to live alone without the comforting sounds and touch of others.
This is why we're born so helpless and for so long need our fathers and mothers.
Parents who don't create strong boundaries and hold their children close in their bond
Create a vacuum of safety and values that their family's children can depend upon.
There is a reason that it is said that harming a child should lead to one's death;
When an adult destroys a child's innocence, the child's soul is forever at unrest.
I say, "Mothers can't be everywhere; that's why we need the godliness of others."
It has forever been that which makes us feel safe is knowing to whom we belong.
Its easy to say that we're all children of God and to think otherwise is wrong;
Humans weren't made to live alone without the comforting sounds and touch of others.
This is why we're born so helpless and for so long need our fathers and mothers.
Parents who don't create strong boundaries and hold their children close in their bond
Create a vacuum of safety and values that their family's children can depend upon.
There is a reason that it is said that harming a child should lead to one's death;
When an adult destroys a child's innocence, the child's soul is forever at unrest.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Productive Progeny
Why would religions encourage parents in continuing to produce
Offspring for whom parents won't care and they will let run loose?
They are feral animals, not children, who are often brought to wrath
By the fear and anger of parents who haven't secured their own paths.
Those who rail against contraception surely can't be aware
Of the fate of the children for whom their parents can't care.
Their pure souls are tainted from before they are even born;
They feel their parents' rejection, and are born with self-scorn.
And the feelings of shame that are imparted to the innocent,
As if they were responsible for where and to whom they were sent,
Are never a good way to encourage peace and empathy for others;
It only encourages jealousy among the world's sisters and brothers.
We must stop acting as if children are manna from heaven,
Instead of responsibilities that no amount of preaching can leaven.
Each of us and each couple can only to our children impart
The gifts that we have realized in our lives and our hearts.
Those that have no spirit of wholeness will not succeed
In imparting the wholeness to their children which they so need.
While it may have once been true in lower animals
That offspring only need bellies that are kept full,
Children of humans need to be shown and be often told
That their individual bodies exist to help achieve a greater goal;
Otherwise, they become creatures of immediate gratification
That impede not only their own, but their offspring's and the world's, salvation.
Offspring for whom parents won't care and they will let run loose?
They are feral animals, not children, who are often brought to wrath
By the fear and anger of parents who haven't secured their own paths.
Those who rail against contraception surely can't be aware
Of the fate of the children for whom their parents can't care.
Their pure souls are tainted from before they are even born;
They feel their parents' rejection, and are born with self-scorn.
And the feelings of shame that are imparted to the innocent,
As if they were responsible for where and to whom they were sent,
Are never a good way to encourage peace and empathy for others;
It only encourages jealousy among the world's sisters and brothers.
We must stop acting as if children are manna from heaven,
Instead of responsibilities that no amount of preaching can leaven.
Each of us and each couple can only to our children impart
The gifts that we have realized in our lives and our hearts.
Those that have no spirit of wholeness will not succeed
In imparting the wholeness to their children which they so need.
While it may have once been true in lower animals
That offspring only need bellies that are kept full,
Children of humans need to be shown and be often told
That their individual bodies exist to help achieve a greater goal;
Otherwise, they become creatures of immediate gratification
That impede not only their own, but their offspring's and the world's, salvation.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Religion as Reflection of Divine Dignity
If nobody hears and responds to you today, will you cease to exist?
All social animals seem to need to experience themselves reflected in the responses and reactions of others. The lucky ones are born into an accepting tribe with a mother capable of nurture, but what about those that are born "different" or to a mother who has no nurturing capability? In the lower animals, the offspring are either killed, or nursed by others, or neglected until they die. The strongest and most aggressive of the group may survive, but as extremely aggressive and territorial members of their societies.
There is evidence of "failure to thrive" in children and the elderly. While the symptoms may vary, there seems to be a general "giving up" in those that are ignored because of their inability to produce what society deems useful.
Many people attempt to indicate that we are to find strength within ourselves, or in a spiritual realm, but we are made to be social beings. To deny our need to be acknowledged and appreciated is to deny our very human natures, which, in my opinion, is the animal nature endowed with, not only a spark of divinity, but also with the freedom to choose with whom we will associate.
The course of all human religion seems to point toward the very human need to define a group that will acknowledge and accept us and our spark of divinity, and put protective boundaries around us and our tribe. What are we to become without a socially accepting and protecting tribe of those who honestly lives within its boundaries?
All social animals seem to need to experience themselves reflected in the responses and reactions of others. The lucky ones are born into an accepting tribe with a mother capable of nurture, but what about those that are born "different" or to a mother who has no nurturing capability? In the lower animals, the offspring are either killed, or nursed by others, or neglected until they die. The strongest and most aggressive of the group may survive, but as extremely aggressive and territorial members of their societies.
There is evidence of "failure to thrive" in children and the elderly. While the symptoms may vary, there seems to be a general "giving up" in those that are ignored because of their inability to produce what society deems useful.
Many people attempt to indicate that we are to find strength within ourselves, or in a spiritual realm, but we are made to be social beings. To deny our need to be acknowledged and appreciated is to deny our very human natures, which, in my opinion, is the animal nature endowed with, not only a spark of divinity, but also with the freedom to choose with whom we will associate.
The course of all human religion seems to point toward the very human need to define a group that will acknowledge and accept us and our spark of divinity, and put protective boundaries around us and our tribe. What are we to become without a socially accepting and protecting tribe of those who honestly lives within its boundaries?
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.
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.
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