And if i were withered,
a shrub, all bent
twisted and leafbear,
water starved and
choked by weeds.
Would i be any less noble,
any further from god,
here....
surrounded by
and very much
a part of the
beauty of creation?
What need of finery then
other than
to pretend
that dressing up in
churchman's robes
makes one closer
to god?
-
Author:
dusk arising (
Offline) - Published: November 10th, 2020 07:16
- Comment from author about the poem: A couple of considerations for any of those who bury themselves beneath a need to regularly post religious rhetoric seemingly wishing to appear more ...connected... to god. Kidding who? Are YOU among those who are fearful of commenting? Who put that fear there?
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 62
- Users favorite of this poem: Poetic Dan
Offline)
Comments5
Depends on the motives, I suppose.
Jesus called some people hypocrites, for dressing up to be seen of men/women.
Some folk's motives are good though. It's part of the rituals.
From where comes the idea of needing rituals needing and dressing up in expensive finery?
From Old Testament times, I would say. The priests had to have various clothing. Though we are in New Testament times now.
Those old testament ones were in the temples which young jesus said were full of corruption. Just the same as today isn't it. God doesn't need people in fine robes and peadophiles pretending to be close to god. The churches have screwed up religion to suit their own purposes.
God=Love=God=Love=God=Love.
We are all born with one purpose in life, the pursuit of happiness. There is no greater happiness than being in Love. God would be pleased if we all lived lives of Love. Those who are unloved or never love are never happy. - Phil A
So many dress up to show they believe in the christian god, many of them to be seen to be going to church, their belief may be in doubt but they think they look right.
As you know my christian beliefs are no more as it is all a bunch of hype.
Good and true words d a.
Andy
'nothing succeeds like excess', wrote Will and Ariel Durant when commentating on Shakespeare, who in turn argued: 'Do you think because you are virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale'...
To engage wholeheartedly in any subject we must - first, alienate the circumstantial from the essential and accept the failings within an individual's actions, as individual failings and not a part of a collective, even if indicative.
To promote the visage of success and with it, the extension of perception that yields respect, we all (at times) choose to 'dress-up' in our finery's, ergo the 'method' at the nucleus of the time-unravelled 'madness'. At the same time even if we were to choose to dress as meek as possible we would all - at some point, delight in the exorbitant spoils from a slice of life's cake's or a sip of it's bitter but dreamy Ale's.
Yes, I agree taken at face value the seemingly useless 'prancing' of costumed culture is archaic and ritualistic BS. Yet, it has allowed for the survival of a single faith based ideology for two millennia, withstanding every and any imaginable attempts to discredit, diminish and denounce its need for existence.
For me, when something succeeds to such a degree, whether I agree with its merits, I have to respect its tenacity and question, if beneath all its human failings, there is indeed an element at its core so worthwhile and necessary to encourage continued investments in its survival. So that eventually it may elicit a distilled version of faith (any and all) that is more Mother Teresa than Roderic Borja...
Forgive me if my words come across as judgemental, I don't mean to be, I'm merely trying to share my two cents worth as best as I can.
At it's core lay the method in which the establishment (the finery) have achieved their status for two millenia. Through brutal torture of dissenters. Through instilling fear in children that their stories of peadophilia will not be believed. Through ridicule of science (galileo being arrested and called a heretic for 300 years for proving the world was not flat). For taking our children into the church and teaching them to fear a god who is the god of love supposedly. For displaying dual standards whence their finery and wealth flies in the face of "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (the roman catholic branch of christianity is THE wealthiest organisation on the planet - google it). Where does jesus speak of the need for finery and wealth? Do not lose touch with the historical fact that the christian churches set themselves up as a power force to command the common people in days when the common man was uneducated, gullible and fearful and how the churches used their power and finery to ensure that fear worked in their favour.
The question posed within my post is "would I be any less noble .... any further from god without such finery?" In all probability i think the answer is that it would make me closer to god.
maybe, maybe not but then again I always found nobility to be a word deciphered more acutely through choice deeds and actions than mere cover-slip interpretations, personally I agree with your mindset completely.
Although admittedly that's mainly because I'm thinking laterally from my own limited perspective, I assume the question proposed would read different if I was entrusted with catering to billions of individuals, who've learnt through evolutionary survival skills that following the majority is the easy way out. Majority, sadly tends to only submit willingly: to those more powerful, ergo if one proposes to lead the majority, first requirement is the accumulation of power. It is true for all establishments that consider themselves community leaders (while systematically profiting from those they claim to help).
As for yearning to be closer to (a) God, I think that's a much simpler question, either choose to follow an established path, adhere to their manipulative rules and trust their establishment stands for the 'greater good', or
close your eyes, 'say hi to the deity of your choice' and establish a one-on-one connection that no one may interfere with.
Hopefully along the way, finding empathy enough: to respect other's to choose their own method for surviving this thing called life.
I refer you back to the first point raised in my 'authors comments' accompanying the post.
I think this poem can be interpreted in several ways ... and there are some fundamental lessons to be learnt from it ... and get this, I like every one of em ...
Neville
To be able to comment and rate this poem, you must be registered. Register here or if you are already registered, login here.