This poem, and the two that follow, are more of those that I wrote in response to my stepson's questions regarding my spiritual beliefs, since he could see plainly that I am a spiritual person and a believer, but he had some trouble reconciling in his own mind the fact that I choose to refrain from going to church, though I respect the beliefs of those who do.
I know he was confused more than once that my spiritual cosmology is not limited to the God of Abraham and Jesus, but also includes lessons from the ancient Greeks, the Tao, Buddhism, Native American beliefs and a number of other philosophies and lay philosophers.
And there certain parts of the bible that I flatly refute, such as much of Leviticus, who so famously called homosexuality an abomination. Yeshua never mentions it, though it was well known in his day, so I am more inclined to consider it a nonissue.
In a lesser known passage, Leviticus also maintained that the proper punishment for a child acting out against his parent was death. And no, I'm not kidding.
If we practiced that today, damned few parents would have children who actually made it through childhood, much less their teen years. So yeah, I refute that ridiculous and immoral instruction completely.
In any case, this poem was my most direct response to my stepson's questioning.
I Believe
You asked me to say what I believe
What do I hold precious and why
I believe in the Glory of life on Earth
I believe it essential to fly
We live in a Universe unto itself
Its diversity not fully known
As we tread in the pathways of those gone before
Where in truth we are never alone
I believe that each enemy might be a friend
For their circumstance comes of a need
I believe that all people are One in the end
No matter their color or creed
I believe in humanity deep in the soul
Which enlightens the Spirit to see
I believe that creation was born out of love
And enables the soul to be free
30 Sept 2000
And yes, I realize that this might not have been an entirely satisfying response for a then-teen, who was raised with rigid fundamentalist beliefs, but the last thing I was going to do was to lie to him, and tell him I believed something when I really didn't.
Not to mention that, had I done so, he would have known it instantly, and he never would have trusted me again. And rightfully so.
And frankly, I was lied to enough by my own family growing up not to want to pass along that particular family tradition. As my mother said, I got in a whole lot more trouble for telling the truth than I ever did for lying, because given the choice, I would much rather be truthful.
Which brings me to my next poem, which is essentially a short take down of the many self-proclaimed Christian churches that seem to exist strictly and only to tell us all whom it is appropriate for us to hate, because when it comes to Yeshua's actual teachings, they seem to have missed the memo.
Support no church that preaches hate
For hate is not of God
And wars cannot be fought for Him
The very concept odd
Our God is All, is Every Thing
All Love and Truth and Matter
He loves us All as part of Him
The rest is idle chatter.
1999
I should also note that I have always considered God, by whatever name you wish to use to denote the Devine, to be genderless; but since this poem is directed to churches that teach that God is an angry old often white man on a cloud, pointing out who is good and who is bad, I went with that imagery.
For myself, I am far more inclined to believe that Robin Williams was right, and that God has a great sense of humor, as there is so much in this world that makes me laugh out loud on a regular basis.
And I wouldn't be surprised if he spent a great deal of time rolling his proverbial eyes. We humans, myself included, have certainly given him enough cause. Which brings me to my final poem for this post.
Oh Lord, Take my Potential
And do with it what you will
For I squander opportunity
And fear I always will
I seek to love and honor you
And some days find my way
Yet the next will find me wanting
As myself do I betray
I seek to know and understand
The purpose I am serving
The thing that I most fear
Is that you find me undeserving
So I study and I scramble
For the tiniest attainment
And take solace in the truth
I am providing entertainment
1999
My thanks again to 
This post, and all those from now until the end of 2018, I am dedicating to the work of #tarc and #yah, aka 
Half the liquid proceeds earned from my posts will be evenly split between the two organizations.
The photo above was taken by me in October 2010 using my Canon Power Shot digital camera. I don't recall the model number, but it is the one I had just prior to getting my Canon SX 30 iS camera.
This park, which I wish I recalled the name of at the moment (Lake Nockamixon?), was one we visited during our trip to NYC for Porcupine Tree's final concert on the American leg of their tour for "The Incident," which was an unprecedented three-hour blow out concert at Radio City Music Hall.
The final concert that ended the tour for good was a similar three-hour blow-out concert at Royal Albert Hall in London.
They have neither released another studio album nor gone back on tour snce, as Steven Wilson is fully engaged with his solo career and other projects, but I really, really miss Porcupine Tree.
Fantastic music, phenomenal lyrics, and they are hands down the best live act I've ever seen, which is saying quite a lot.
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