http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
We are,
hopefully over the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic if, by no means, out of the
woods just yet. A reader asks, do I blame China for not being as upfront as it
might have been about the initial outbreak in Wuhan? No, I don't.
Humankind invariably loves to play the Blame Game, not least because it
distracts attention from any contribution its own shortcomings may have played
in ... whatever. Take climate change for example; no Devil or Fate working
against us, but our own (rarely unselfish) needs. As for any God's intervening
to save us all, a cleric once put to me that "God can save souls, and will
if we ask Him, but everything else is down to us." Now, as regular readers
know, I don't subscribe to any religion, but these words certainly got me
thinking, and I was only about 12 ears-old at the time.]
Now, I have to confess to
occasional mood swings since I began my hormone therapy treatment for prostate
cancer. Fortunately, my closest friends are very patient with me and are very
supportive.
Funny, isn’t it, about some people?
Family, friends, neighbours, work colleagues...Some rally round in a crisis and
others run a mile. Not everyone appreciates that love, friendship or just being
a good colleague involves teamwork even or perhaps especially when the team
comprises of only two.
Some people are not into a
give-and-take scenario. They see something in someone they want and feel
entitled - if only by association - to take, take, and take again. They have
discovered an offload Channel, but not a two-way one. (Reciprocity is not in
their vocabulary.) When it comes to giving something back, they don’t want to
know since any relationship has to be on their terms or not at all. For the
most part, they are not nasty people in the least (just being human?) and can
be good company when life is running smoothly, but are too self-centred and
self-absorbed to be anything but takers; being a giver requires too much
effort, imposes on their personal space and makes unfair demands on their time.
What we see is far less than what we get. (I remember thinking that once on a
school visit to a waxworks museum.)
Meanwhile...
Reason not the need,’ cries King
Lear in what is considered by many (including me) to be the greatest of
Shakespeare’s plays.
It is true that need sets itself
above reason in the sense that human nature rarely answers to logic. So when a
follower of logic puts to a follower of religion, that he or she might explain
what they mean by God, any reply is more likely to pertain to a personal
need than anything reason can attempt to rationalise. Oh, there will be
references made to Holy Books and the usual get-out clause about Faith having
less to do with reason than trust and/or divine inspiration, but that doesn’t
really answer the question.
As regular readers will know, it
has long been my personal belief that religion has far more to do with a
person’s need to believe in God than the existence of God as
anything other than a metaphorical force behind all that is good in the world
as opposed to all that is bad. That isn't to say, I don’t respect that need, I
do. Moreover, I can relate to it far more than I can relate to any personified
God. I respect all Faiths, too, but can neither enter into any nor would want
to because, for me, Belief is not enough. I need to ask
questions and keep on asking questions until any answers I may
find begin to make some kind of sense rather like pieces in a jigsaw.
You, me, us…we are all parts of the
same jigsaw.
If a sense of spirituality inspires
me to ask questions, I take it from nature, my mentor in such matters even in
childhood where religion offered me nothing no matter what I was told to the
contrary or how hard I looked. More often than not, any debate abut existential
life forces invariably shapes up along the lines of playing a blame game. At
the end of the day, though, humankind has to accept its share
o collective as well as personal blame for any natural and/or human forces
working against a Here-and-Now playing host to both its natural and human
worlds for better, for worse.
This poem is a kenning.
KEY WORKER EXTRAORDINARY
I am the curator
of
a love-to-hate museum
down our way
where we all come to see
whatever it is we need
to be, smell, do a double-take
on works of art
bent on taking us to task
for our shortcomings
I am the curator
of obscure desires haunting
mind-body-spirit,
inspiring orgasms sublime
just for playing time
at its own game, letting its tides
take the blame,
(any old scapegoat will do)
for its shortcomings
I am the creator
of a love-to-hate museum
down your way,
harbouring all creativity’s
burning desire
to expose in this or that travesty
of humanity,
as good a reflection as any
of its shortcomings
Call me God, Devil or Fate as may
be;
any answers lie at the heart of M-E
Copyright R. N. Taber 2011; 2020
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