To My Dear Atheist Friends & My Dear Christian Friends

To my dear Atheist friends,

I don't believe in that god either.

 To my dear Christian friends,

Do you?

~~~

I hear of a god
who is in control
who laid out rules for a righteous life
who warns us to
obey
and pray
lest we should stray away
and end in
HELL
one day
where we'll repent of all
our wicked ways
but it will be
too late
to escape
a fiery fate
of torment
and JUSTICE
without end!

I hear of a god 

who is in control

of blessings that 

he will bestow

IF

you pay your tithe

and say your prayers
and dress the way
the leaders say
and teach your children
with whom to play

and claim your promises

of...

prosperity?

A car?

Of course!

A house?

You must!

A boat? 

God wants your happiness,

so yes!

And those that live in poverty?

They obviously live in sin

harboring some evil 

deep within.

If only they would change their wicked ways 

they'd live in 

mansions 

the rest of their days! 

I hear of a god

who is in control 

and chooses sides

and likes football

a god who sends out 

troops to war.

The soldiers
hold their weapons,

say a prayer

then meet 

on land

or sea

or air

while leaders claim

god's enterprise

then slaughter those 

on the 

other side

making
history 
where ever 
they may be: 

the City of Ai,

Constantinople,

Wounded Knee.

 I cannot trust

a god who

is in control

of all the horrors

this world holds!

Yet...

I believe!

I believe that

somehow

someone

divided energy

by a constant

 squared

 and

"...the laws of physics....govern the 

something-from-nothing moment 

of creation that gives rise to our universe.."

>>BANG<<

atoms flew

and gasses grew

and strings

so infinitesimally small

began to

sing

of molecules

and gravity

and

the gathering

of galaxies

and mountains

bursting

from the seas

and tidal pools

and a gentle breeze...

But I believe 

a challenger

declared,

"I know a better,

stronger way!

Let might make right

and strength survive and thrive

while weakness filters out and dies:

let power beget power...

The circle of life!"

I believe

that in this world,

so full of strife,

a spark of love

was kept alive

and wove its way

through centuries

and one day

 faced the enemy

who offered

to release control

of his whole earthly realm

if only love

would bend
it's knee

declaring 

the usuper's
victory.

But,

Love was not

so easily bought

and though I cannot truly

comprehend

how death 

could bring life

in the end

yet, oh, how bold

to tell us that

the last

shall one day

be the first

and 

meekness triumph
in the end.

 I believe that

Love is patient

Love is kind

and

God IS Love!

Which means that:

God is patient

God is kind
God does not envy
 God is not proud
 God is not

easily angered
and keeps
no record
of wrongs.
God never ends,
but prophesies
and knowledge
they
will pass away!*

I believe
this challenges
theology that tells
us that most
mystery is gone
and we've
deciphered prophecy

and formulated
the way to be.
Instead
we dimly see
through darkened glass
but hear repeatedly:

"Fear not!

Be not afraid.

Love your neighbor

AND

your enemy,

for that's what matters,

in the end,

to Me!" 

 ~Heather Alarcon

1/20/2014

------------------------------------------------

Although I haven't blogged in a VERY long time, this is the first part of a series of blogs I hope to write that are partially in response to Ryan Bell's foray into Atheism and were partly brought on by a news item similarly to my first post.  I will explain more details on point later, but when I started writing down ideas my prose turned into poetry and it became what it is. ^_^

*I  first heard of substituting God for Love in 1 Corinthians 13 from someone who heard it at the Spangle, WA Camp-meeting 2013.  I believe it is a beautiful and meaningful exercise.