Who do We think We Are?OR Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

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

A reader asks  why I appear to differentiate between the human spirit and Holy Spirit and "clearly have no time for the latter". What can I say, other than I differentiate because they are not the same?
The human spirit has a mind of its own, and will sometimes lead s to make mistakes for which we have no one to blame but ourselves and/or 'fate' where is is easier to blame God. Whatever, while I respect those who sincerely enter into (any) religious point if view, we must agree to differ. As do not deny the existential presence of a God, but see God as nature, not as its creator, moreover an all-embracing life force, not the personification of a bigot who would see me in some existential 'hel'l for being gay.

Another reader asks why I post some poems on my general blog and not on my gay-interest blog, .and vice versa, especially as I often empathise that a poem is a poem is a poem just as a person is a person is ... whatever or whomsoever. Well, believe it or not some readers enjoy sipping into both blogs and my gay-interest poems are intended, primarily, help LGBT readers around the world feel GOOD about their sexuality, but also educate bigots in those societies and communities that would make us think think badly of t ourselves for it  - just as my own did when I was a teenager and young man, consequently made to journey to hell and back; sadly, many LGBT people around the world still never find a way back.

Now, we are not only creating our own personal history with every thought we pursue and every word we utter, but also recording it with every step we take; all the more reason to tread carefully, consider the feelings of others and avoid treading on toes we have no wish to tread on.

It is one thing to respect the right of free speech, another to bait someone with points of view directly opposed to their own. "No harm in that, either," a friend once commented, "so long as you can agree to differ and discuss amicably if spiritedly." A wise woman, my friend, and I, for one, couldn't agree more, although it is not always east to spot that someone is playing devils advocate; it can be a risky game to play, and can take even the best friendships to breaking point ...

Baiters are often critics of whatever stand we have chosen to take in life, on whatever; while we all need to be challenged, if only to be clearer ourselves as to the where-how-why we take certain stands, make certain choices that subsequently lead us along this or that path in life, we need to respect the other person's point of view even be prepared to modify our own.

Agreeing to differ can be as educational as it can be fun ... so long as neither party assumes he or she has an absolute right to theirs which, as regular readers of my blogs will know, is my problem with (any) religion.

WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE? or NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED

There’s a reality that is but a dream,

life stories told in quickly turning pages

(not the mediocre fiction it may seem)

tracking the poetry and prose of Ages

wherever ordinary men and women 

share life’s adventures (everyday heroes);

life’s ‘failures’ exceeding expectation,

its poor getting by on election promises;

the self, exposed to ever prying eyes

waiting to catch us out, see us take a fall;

minds, trying  to make sense of chaos,

human spirit, left to try and rise above it

Half the world pressing on with ambition,

the rest of us left trailing imagination ...

Copyright R. N. Taber 2005; 2020

[Note: An earlier version of this poem first appeared in Ygdrasil, Journal of the Poetic Arts (December, 2004) and subsequently in  A Feeling for the Quickness of Time by R. N. Taber, Assembly Books, 2005.]