Thursday, May 16, 2013

It Is Enough


Anna got me thinking about willing, wishing, answering the call in her great post on dVerse Meeting the Bar. I put a few lines together, but nothing seemed to fit the prompt as well as this older poem, slightly reworked. My apologies to the few who may have already read this one. 

It Is Enough

I heard my share
of sermons, serving
time on straight-backed
pews, begrudging each
moment lost
                     to eternity.

My elders sat willingly           
in expectation
of heavenly reward, glad
to leave all worldly affairs,
glad to rest weary bones
if only for a moment.

They meant well.

I see that now, now
that my own bones
need rest, now that
I hope beyond all hope
to be free in the divine.

But we will never
decipher the mystery, try
as we might. Will we?
All we have from him
we already know,
written bold:
do not kill,
do not steal,
do unto others.

We stumble over what
we do not have: the
in-between-the-lines,
shrouded, incomprehensible,
written in sand, faint

markings that lead us
to belief or despair. I believe
it is enough to want
to believe. It is enough.

21 comments:

  1. nice...there is much to be said between the lines...or at least we make it...i grew up in a straight back church that seemed to focus more on what i could not do than what was possible...and that was not freedom...it was much later i found that...and between the lines i find the greatest compass is to 'love one another' and not let that be defined in who the other is...

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    1. Thanks Brian--that is the end of the law, isn't it, to love one another?

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  2. Nico, this is absolutely brilliant. Such depth, so much resonance. Thank you for sharing this today.

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  3. Yes, this is it precisely, the spectrum of faith and doubt, the need to find liberation which is too often hidden beneath an overflow of dogma and perscriptives. The gentleness in the voice allows the reader space to question alongside and creates a sense of a compassionate godhead. Beautiful work.

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    1. Thanks Anna, we all need adequate space to question.

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  4. A heartfelt poem beautifully expressed.Although I am empathetic with your poem as another who spent a considerable part of her life in a priere dieu on her knees I am extremely grateful for the experience.
    I only came to this realisation when being exposed to those who have
    no religious upbringing. I can only say they are missing a dimension ..an important one i m o! Thought provoking poem!

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    1. Thanks Cress--I wouldn't change it, I think it did me some good. But how I hated siting there, with the sun shining outside, just wanting to get out and RUN!

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  5. I used to hate Sundays on the pews...wondering what it was really all about, questioning it all... It wasn't all bad...in someways I learned a lot...I feel now that faith is in ourselves in our hearts, whether it be the almighty or a personal thing...lovely thought provoking poem.

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    1. Thanks Di--yeah, it wasn't all bad. Really, the sermons were probably the worst part of the whole thing--I had too much energy to sit still that long. Anyway, they were following God the best way they knew how, and I don't hold it against them at all.

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  6. i used to go to a church that seemed to have not much to do with life...but later found that jesus always was in the middle of life...and loves unconditional..that was what brought me back to faith...and yeah...we need space to think through things..

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    1. Thanks Claudia--that space is all-important, at least for me. The problem with strict religions is that they cannot allow for space to question. Questions are seen as defections. Anyway, I have always wanted to believe, even if doubt sometimes takes the upper hand. Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief. That's the story of my life.

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  7. I have never been a church-goer, but I can certainly feel the need for those moments. It could be in nature or during a concert... Thank you for making me aware of those moments for myself.

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    1. Thanks Bjorn--acknowledging the sense of the holy in nature, music, art, friendship, poetry, and so on, goes a long way to overcoming the parochialism and close-mindedness of many religious systems.

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    2. This is where I fall in line..the parochialism last, but I grew up going to a Protestant church, singing in the choir and going to camps so didn't feel as restricted; meeting diverse people of other faiths is a real eye opener..and, yes, it's enough to want to believe...religion per se is obsolete to me now..

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  8. 'doing time' indoors is such an unnecessary burden.
    I'd follow any field preacher and for want of one, I go to my own outdoor church in fields and woods. So agree with your beautiful concluding lines.

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    1. Thanks Aprille. Especially burdensome as a young child. I was reared in the Baptist faith, and our services were split between singing and sermon. I did enjoy the first half of the service, the singing. Those hymns are etched in my mind. When I got older I learned to play music, which gave me something to do for half a service!

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  9. I love the resolution of the ending - such a reflective write.

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    1. Thanks Rowan--a rather non-committal resolution, I think!

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  10. I hope you're right, "I believe / it is enough to want / to believe. It is enough."

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