Spoilt For Choice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber

We face questions about the meaning of life and death almost daily. It is a rare person that finds any answers. However, we should not be defeatist. On the contrary, we should feel encouraged.

Yes, we run a gamut of emotions. The joys of life are constantly under threat by fear, grief, pain and loneliness. Yet if we look hard enough with our inner eye, we are likely to see more and more of that bigger picture of which we are but brush strokes on the canvas. It may not answer any questions but it affords us a glimpse of our purpose in life.

We are all aspects of the bigger picture and, as such, have a positive part to play as we find ways to deal with ways of living and dying. We can but hope that when others view the picture they may glimpse and take heart from our contribution.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE

Too often have I talked with Death

in green fields, by sandy shores,

under stars in the middle of the night,

on street corners in broad daylight;

conversation is always much the same,

along the lines of my losing a grip

on the meaningfulness of life and love

and He offering safety, security,

release from the anxieties of integrity;

let Death take responsibility for me

where others refuse, be a ghost among

shades of darkness, distanced from

the spoils and heartache of daily grind,

out of sight, out of mind...?

Too often have I talked with Death

during early hours, late strolls,

counting spring lambs frolicking in

fields of memory, listening out for

voices across the sea, once near, dear

to me, not so long ago it seems,

stuff of sweet dreams, laid low come

cold light of day, buried beneath

cracked paving stones, cruel highways

expecting me to carry on till I drop

exhausted, reaching for Death’s hand

rather than dare ask for help, seek

answers in prayers that always seem

to fall on deaf ears…

“No one cares,” Death so delights
in telling me, urging I turn

my back on spite, hate, jealousy,

poverty, hunger, war, a politics

of perversity, world religions busy

practising world division, quick

to condemn what (too often) they

can’t comprehend for refusing

to play a part in common workings

of the heart, keeping their distance,

awarding marks out of ten to any seen

to have stakes in a God they would

claim for their own and give a name

where no need for one...

Where voices would deny us peace,

let us explore the politics of choice

[From: Accomplices To Illusion by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2007]