Man's Spirituality!

 

The King is dead!

Long live the King!

The King of the Jews?

No, The King of Heaven;

And of the Earth; Creator.

The Lord is ever present,

Who will speak to God?

Who will be so bold?

Man was born of spirit;

Chose the fruit of knowledge,

Turned to sexuality.

Procreation took its place;

Death, its grip took hold,

Of carcasses, once fresh, now old.

 

What pathway has been trod,

Searched since life began?

Is there a Lord, a God?

A place beyond Death's door;

Is there an Olympus, Nirvana or Heaven?

Who is there to believe?

How many gods and goddesses, uplifted

Within the minds of those who flee,

From knowledge gained since Adam and Eve?

There have been many temples built;

Sacred rights performed to empty vaults!

How many augurs, portents and signs,

Confirm the truth of life,

Where death is the final decree?

 

There are many dark truths,

Which serve as tainted lies!

Eve chose the path that bore

Knowledge of sexual self,

Of nakedness of the physical

Body; a shell to the inner mind.

The spiritual appreciation of Nature

Replaced by degree of carnal value.

Humankind now led to reproduction,

Of desires within the union of birth.

Pain! The culmination of passion!

Life, born through the very channel

Aroused to heighten the sense

Of being, that no longer served the spirit.


 

Death! The loss of immortality!

The essence of life locked

To the carcass tied to Earth's totality.

Worship given to powers,

Of Wind, Water, Earth and Fire.

Signs seen, visible causes of change

Of Seasons, renewal of life, and passing

Into death. Elements granted superiority,

Driven by forces and higher personality.

The Babylonians set up their stones,

While Druids danced in open ritual.

What success was gained for sacrifice

Of youth and vigour, as trade

In Pagan's lure of death for life?

 

A priesthood formed to take control,

Direct and manipulate simple souls,

Who feared the darkness of night.

Hunger and thirst, a threat

Of body and mind, a punishment or reward

To those who served as they were told.

Who stood against the Priest,

Who abused his power of divinity?

Who would risk a total loss

Of being cast down to Purgatory?

The strongest of the strong would cower;

Forsake the leadership of Clan, to hear

The mystical words to be given

To direct their course, the use of power.

 

When will Man's spiritual self be freed?

From symbols and hierarchy's greed.

Who leads the inner search,

To link the bonds once held,

Where souls can rest, can follow new lead?

Ritual and pagan rite detract the path

Of higher worth, of respect and equality.

There are two sexes, two gender of earthly form;

Where will they in spirit belong?

Since tribal man has evolved,

His desire to conquer, his resolve

To master those lesser than he;

Where body strength and cunning,

The criteria applied for priority.


 

These traits, measures of potency.

They speak of strength, of purpose,

Of desire, of depth, of duality.

For Mankind, is there responsibility?

For fellow man, for woman, for child!

How much time must pass

Before the truth of life is known?

And shared beyond the natural greed

Of those whose power used is decreed

to provide greater wealth and poverty.

Tacitus, a Roman, of history has said...

'Primitive man has no evil desires.

Being blameless and innocent,

His life was free of compulsions or penalties.'

 

This thought, a reflection of Man's worth,

Extended...'He has also needed no rewards,

For he was naturally good.

Likewise, where no wrong desires existed,

Fear imposed no prohibitions.

But when men ceased to be equal,

Egotism replaced fellow feeling and decency

Succumbed to violence. The result was despotism-

In many countries permanently.'

How much has changed since Twenty A.D.?

Tiberius, Caesar, also said...

'But once you safely ignore a prohibition,

Fear and shame vanish.'

How apt these words today ring true!

 

Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, translated Michael Grant, Cassell & Co. 1956.Shall modern man and woman ignore

The past, those events long gone before?

What role must religion play to lead

A mind, that in science has philosophy,

But no sense of proportionate equanimity?

Is there a God, a King of life?

What matter to you if Buddha or Christ?

Will you heed any of those words of advice?

Do you lock yourself in epistemology?

There is a force within each one;

That cries for guidance! A conscious

Mind developed by the wealth of experience,

Of opportunity and of action completed;

While each proceeds to self identity!


 

Christ, born of woman, Son of God!

His words extended to teach,

To offer alternative to life and death,

Of body and spirit!

Why should you believe in His truth?

Are His words the equal of other prophets?

Man has responsibility for Man!

This Earth, this globe, the sustenance;

A link of mind and soul.

If we do not aim high for that realm

Of spirit where values are placed above self,

We fall upon 'our own epoch

To produce moral and intellectual

Achievements for our descendants to copy.'

 

Again, Tacitus records his thought...

'Or perhaps not only the seasons

But everything else, social history included,

Moves in cycles. Not, however, that earlier

Times were better than ours in everyway -

Such rivalry with the past is a fine thing.'

Are we interested in greater bloodshed?

Must our future be our past?

How far will we travel to overcome, foreshadow

Those who are weaker, to take rather than to give

Of our education, of wealth, of mind?

There is a reward; there is justice;

In rebellion, where civil war will displace

Those whose values have no spiritual grace!

 

Will George © 1994

Will George Poet

will-george-poet.co.uk