~*~*~
My lack of belief,
Left, desecrated,
Before my eyes,
But where is sacrilege,
When there is nothing,
To be held sacred,
Except for words of reason,
And thoughts, logical?
No one understands,
That to decide one dislikes,
The bitterness of medicine,
One must taste,
The white tablets first,
As to give up belief,
One must be learned,
In the ways and means,
Of this thing called religion.
It is not waking up one day,
And deciding to give up faith,
But a battle of wits,
A war of reason with beliefs,
That must go on,
Until a conclusion comes,
That makes perfect sense,
That fits with the waking mind,
As with theΒ sub-conscience,
A battle after which,
Comes peace and understanding,
Of the universe and oneself.
This battle raged on for years,
In the dark corners of my mind,
First giving up rituals,
And religious ceremonies,
Believing only in One supreme,
Until that too felt illogical,
And questions started to arise,
Over such an existence.
The questions always grew,
Cumbersome, and burdensome.
The answers always
Lacked substance,
I could not just believe
What I had been told,
Without questioning their roots,
Without thinking of consequences,
Without feeling this lack of reason.
Reason is the only reality,
And my curious mind could not sit idle,
With half held beliefs,
And half told answers.
At the end, the world could not,
Convince me that I must believe,
Without searching for a logical answer,
For the questions in my mind.
The mind is one’s greatest gift,
One’s ability to think,
And to put together thoughts,
To create clarity from chaos,
To reason with pure logic,
How can one not see,
The greatness in this?
My mind could not
Remain idle,
Without asking for
An explanation,
Of these things
We are told to believe,
As the lungs cannot
Stop breathing,
And the heart cannot
Stop pumping blood,
Without killing the being.
And so today, I believe in nothing,
But Life.
~*~*~
I am linking in the above for Thursday’s Poets’ Rally Week 36, hosted by Jingle.
Also, I just wanted to point out that I don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, nor am I saying anything against religion. I am one who believes that everyone is entitled to their beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. I am merely stating my opinion.
Happy Rally everyone!
your third paragraph rings a bell to me! nice !
as long as we breathe we ask questions, of ourselves, of others, of the world around us, we ask and we don’t receive the answers to the questions, just other peoples beliefs… It’s up to us to decide, what we make of this life, hope and religion is a by product of peoples need to follow a creed. Life is a god a creed to follow as any. For without life there is nothing. Or so I believe…
a thoughtful poem, which takes one on a journey of self discovery . xPenx
Thats a good thing to believe in.
My beliefs still confuse me.
Its here, there and everywhere just like you illustrated in this poem.
Excellent
Some things we believe in with the heart without seeing, like a baby growing inside a mother’s womb. We do not see, yet we believe and daily, a part grows until it is born, here is an exhibition of faith….
I like the presentation π
thanks for sharing
love the message behind your words…
one has to eat bitter to learn.
well expressed sentiments, Glad to have you.
Happy 2011…
π
I think Carrie Fisher said it best when she said “You know how Marx said religion is the opiate of the masses? Well I took masses of opiates religiously.” (from her HBO show)
Great poem, much agreed. Course, not sure if you’ve strapped any atheistic glasses on, but if not, I can’t help but recommend them. Maybe it just works for me, lol. Glad I came over to do some reading. Always a pleasure.
crb.
Great poem, I enjoyed.. Here is mine, ! Wishes !
Happy Rally, Wish you a very Happy New Year 2011 !
–Someone is Special–
I love the “declaration” feel of this poem. Like “this is where I stand” kind of thing. I really enjoyed!
My life has been a journey filled with spiritual understanding, acceptance, rejection, awakening, enlightenment. I SO get the flow and intention of this piece. Thought-provoking.
Very well done, I think I have had these thoughts myself before. Then again, I went polytheistic in my views. I am just weird that way, I guess. Fantastic write, woven well and a joy to read for those of us who know. Thanks for sharing with us!
yes faith is matter of individual perspective…i can’t comment on yours and you comment on mine….yet i would say commendable poem..good job..
dear DP,
i always admire your artistry and creativity in poetry. your talent as a poet is unquestionable. this poem has been written courageously and freely and came accross as your personal testament why you may have lacked in faith.
we may both differ in our belief systems and individual perspectives but i do believe that there will come a time in our lives that even human reasoning and logic will fail us. and faith in the One is the only thing that matters.
may you have all the reasons to keep on going as another new year starts. wishing more poetry from you.
An interesting, sensitive exploration of the grounding for some beliefs! Love the comparative physical reality in the last stanza!
Moving write! Loved this stanza:
This battle raged on for years,
In the dark corners of my mind,
First giving up rituals,
And religious ceremonies,
Believing only in One supreme,
Until that too felt illogical,
And questions started to arise,
Over such an existence.
The rational needs to be pursued with greater intent than what we wouldn’t regard with dignity.Forcing ourselves to like illogical things is meaningless.Good job!Happy new year!
wow. this is why i believe in the power of words.
http://actoberreid.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/week-11/
I could relate with this a lot! Powerful poem.. π
Why The Hesitation? My Rally Week 36 Poetry
Nice piece. I specifically love the lines,
“And the heart cannot
Stop pumping blood,
Without killing the being.”
Indeed, we cannot stop life, we cannot stop pain, we cannot stop things. Because if we do, we would be nothing. π
Thank you for this one. Happy 2011 and happy rally.
~Cha~
http://chaspalette.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/she-is-her-but-not-her/
A beautifully written self expression and exploration of why you lack faith.
I feel as you do, but could never convey my feelings like this. Beautiful.
I really liked this poem…I felt a relationship to the sentiments expressed. Thank you so much for sharing.
The questions always grew,
Cumbersome, and burdensome.
The answers always
Lacked substance …
as long as you have faith in something, you have your own religion and that’s what makes you go further away in life. Keep having faith in life!
Wonderful poem.
Your reasons are really powerful for disbelief..
beliefs are individualistic anyway.You believe in life ,nice way to go.
Happy New Year.
Here is my entry for rally.
http://poem-myworldofexcitement.blogspot.com/2010/12/poem41was-all-these-necessary.html
Till now, I have never really voiced that I might just be an atheist, but most of my thoughts and actions seem to advocate atheism π
I guess, like you, I don’t really care to “believe” or “not believe” in all the judgments and opinions and man-made abstracts… Life is what we have, what we are! Live it, and make the most of it.. that seems to be my motto (or so I think)
Amen to your thoughts, DP…
Cheers!!
dense meditation, well done, thanks for sharing
Death to the infidels! Hail Darwin π
Very true, we just cant get up one day and claim that we are believer/nonbeliever.
its not that easy.
Nice. You explained something very well that I can relate to so well… adn have written about myself here and there… .