Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Inside Job

There is no true atheist. And, I'm not saying this because I'm trying to press religion on the unsuspecting masses.

I've had several atheist and agnostic friends whose moral conduct equals the best of my religious friends. But, religion is about more than morality, isn't it? It involves worship of and devotion to something greater than self. My friends also display altruism in abundance. They devote themselves to family, friends, jobs, community, country, and even to the planet.

Perhaps I'm speaking of spirituality as much as religion--a sense of the sacred.

Time magazine (October 25, 2004)devoted considerable space to "The God Gene." Various research studies point toward the conclusion that we are "hard-wired" for searching and recognizing the divine. Who has not been awed by the first cry of a newborn, or a spectacular sunrise or the smile on the face of a loved one (or desired one)? There are those inexplicable moments in everyone's life, of wonder and connectedness to something vast beyond comprehension.

Godness is within--as well as outside--us. We may call this immanence "God" or something else or nothing at all. But there are those glimpses, however fleeting, when despite our busyness, confusion, or seeming disbelief, we are stilled and we know.

30-30 Vision

With April being National Poetry Month, my big literary push was in that direction. The Writer's Digest poetry blog challenged us to write a poem daily for thirty days. Their blog offered a prompt each day to get us started.

In my case, the effort generated more quantity than quality. Although, I think a few gems peaked through. "Revelation" compares heaven with hell, with the latter not faring all that badly. "Sacrifice" gets close and personal to the debt we owe our service personnel, to the tremendous grief and loss of war. "Femme Fatale in Diapers" may sound like a Depends commercial for the Geritol generation, but it is not.

Other titles include "Never Lust and Call It Love" and "Tripping through the New Millennium." In "Ah, Sigmund," we find the immortal phrase: "Yet, there are...moments...when a cigar is more, much more than a good smoke." And I did manage to come up with one instant classic, "The Trouble with Nosehairs."