Faith at the Door by Lost Sheep

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Submission Name: Faith at the Door dots

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Author:	Lost Sheep
ASL Info:	41 M Vancouver, WA
Elite Ratio:	6.24 - 909/772/72
Words:	419

Class/Type:	Prose/
Total Views:	426
Average Vote:	No vote yet.
Bytes:	2633

Description:

Please read the poem first.

I've debated with myself for two weeks now on whether to post this or not. Perhaps I need to just bite the bullet and do it.

We recently had a young lady knock on our door and invite us to her church for an evening of Christian music. I've studied religion for over 30 years and I've developed a bit of a jaded edge, though I still love the discussions. As is typical in such situations we wound up in a pretty deep religious discussion.

It became pretty obvious in a hurry that her faith was strong, but her knowledge was weak. She would state that it says this or that in the bible, but she couldn't tell me where and she couldn't tell me what context the comment was made in.

She was young (22), extremely pretty and very happy. I enjoyed talking to her immensely. Yet looking back, I hesitated to teach her anything of importance. After the conversation, I wrote this.

Thanks to "childs" for help with the last line.

(PLEASE READ THIS!!! In posting this I'm looking more for literary comments than religious debate, although I'll happily discuss religion through private messages. Please address comments to the piece I've written here, or a discussion about the subject matter I've written about here. If all you have to say is that you're right and I'm wrong, that belongs in a PM, where I'll happily discuss faith and reality with you.)

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You stand at my door
So young and beautiful
Flashes of light from your eyes and your vibrant smile
You’ve a message for me and an invitation to join you

You ask me what I think
Where are we going?
What will we do
When our time here is over, our work complete?
But it’s not what I think that matters
It's the truth that matters

You have faith to share and doors to open
You’ve been told the answers by a trustworthy man
You’re happy now that Christ is in your life
You have a ‘personal relationship’
With a man 2000 years gone
It's a message of hope, one of good cheer
A message I once believed

But however comforting the news,
To be hopeful, the message must be true
So I’ve studied and researched
I know the source of your faith
The words from Babylon now called the “Old Testament”
Jesus’ words as remembered 3 generations after his death
The letters of Paul written by a man from Rome

I know the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Filtered by Carthage, approved by King James
I know the words of Thomas, Barnabas and Clement
Denied by Carthage, forgotten by James

The source of your book lies with men of old
Not with the man you feel loves you.

I’ve read Jesus’ words and those of Paul
I’ve read Mohammed and Confucius
Tales of Zeus, tales of Vishnu
From Mithras to Joseph Smith

I’ve read the words of men, so many men
I’ve seen their faiths evolve
From Babylon of old to the young faith on my doorstep
From the birth of the sun, to the birth of the son,
They’re all works of men.
Some devout and honest, some charlatans,
But all men, just as ignorant and unknowing as us.

You ask me what I think
But it’s not what I think that matters
It’s the fact that I don’t know
The fact that you don't know
The reality that no one knows
For of our personal destinies, God isn't talking

What matters is not the faith, no matter how secure, no matter how sincere
What matters is the reality, no matter how open the question.

It’s your happy smile
That makes me hesitate to shatter your illusions
So, please sweet child, don’t press me
If we keep talking
I'll ruin everything that you are.

Submitted on 2006-02-21 13:07:54 Terms of Service / Copyright Rules
Submissions: [ Previous ] [ Next ]

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||| Comments |||
  I find this piece to have much truth in the words and the words filled with a deep compassion your writings are amazing and I am enjoying reading them I am sorry that I haven't found these sooner because your work is truly unique and written with a style all your own and I enjoy when I find that in poetry or prose even lyrics and you are a very talented writer I will be reading your work more often and I like this one as well as the first one I read of your work I will add this one to my favs also

Ladymustang
| Posted on 2006-09-23 00:00:00 | by LadyMustang | [ Reply to This ]
  Elegant wrapping up the withdrawl from a person, because there the sense that honesty will hurt...and yet, that decision is puts the reaction to your words as a fixed thing...and is some ways the reaction of yourself IF you thought as you think she does...WHEW!.. but it is thew compassionate patrh, and one I heve travelled...as to the poetry itself...it rolls nad slides, like waves curling in over themselves...the logic of faith is really illogic...and so intellect's logical product is vastly different from Faith's expansive glowing cloud of dreams...and both are neccessary...and as a poet, you see that, and deal with it..and this poem set out in tightly corded packets of wood...the fuel necessary to burn this illusion away...and the uncomfortable owning a point of view that was born with Darwin, with Science and with disgust art organized religions evasiveness with the facts they do have...

I think your emotions came thru...and compassion is felt for friends who feel it for another and the person who has to have a symbolic distancing of their own compassion, and the lack of self knowledge or trust suggested by outsourcing our beliefs...

wonderful
| Posted on 2006-04-02 00:00:00 | by koster | [ Reply to This ]
  "It’s your happy smile
That makes me hesitate to shatter your illusions
So, please sweet child, don’t press me
If we keep talking
I'll ruin everything that you are."

Being an Athiest that is well versed in the biblical history and the text of the bible itself puts me in a position to agree with you. The qoute I feel fits here is "Don't criticize my beliefs and I won't pick out the flaws in yours"
I find that I like this poem and it will be a valued favorites addition for me.
Loveage,
Mike
| Posted on 2006-02-23 00:00:00 | by sageeriol | [ Reply to This ]
  "It’s your happy smile
That makes me hesitate to shatter your illusions
So, please sweet child, don’t press me
If we keep talking
I'll ruin everything that you are."

Being an Athiest that is well versed in the biblical history and the text of the bible itself puts me in a position to agree with you. The qoute I feel fits here is "Don't criticize my beliefs and I won't pick out the flaws in yours"
I find that I like this poem and it will be a valued favorites addition for me.
Loveage,
Mike
| Posted on 2006-02-23 00:00:00 | by sageeriol | [ Reply to This ]
  Well now Steve, first off I am really glad you posted this piece. Maybe the two weeks of writing it and mulling over whether or not to share it has paid off. This is an honestly spoken piece of your beliefs. It makes the reader think that maybe, just maybe there isn't an answer.

Its as if I could almost feel you while reading this piece because these are thoughts I have had many times. The wording and the structure gives it a punch that made me stop and say hey, what a different way to look at it.

I will not go into a religious debate on this one, 1: because you ask for none 2: because even if you did, I have no right to tell you what you should or shouldn't believe. I have had that done to me numerous times and I'm pretty sure that you have an inkling of my beliefs already.

This was one powerful write and I thiank you for sharing it. After all it is your right to do so and there shouldn't be anyone to tell you that you can't.

*salutes* Great job my friend.

Brightest Blessings,
Crystal
| Posted on 2006-02-23 00:00:00 | by lenotoire | [ Reply to This ]
  Well, hmmm...I like the piece, and I think that it's great on a personal level. I would; however, say that this is definetly controversial. Religious debate is not something I tend to engage in simply because I don't like to open old wounds of mine. I appreciate the time and energy that you spent on this. To be honest with you, there was good literary effort in the write, but I think the subject took away from how well written it is. The Greeks had an interesting outlook "What is man without the Gods", and honestly, I agree. Perhaps it's not "God", or "Allah", but simply a higher force that drives us. Coincidences do not naturally occur my friend. You seem to be an educated man, so your arguments are obviously well thought out, and sound. Thank you for asking me to read this, and I hope that my comment has been beneficial.
~Clover
| Posted on 2006-02-22 00:00:00 | by clovernfoxglove | [ Reply to This ]
  This is extremely powerful
I truly enjoyed this piece
This write makes one think about destiny and leaves the choice up to them
That my friend is what I truefully like about this write
By the way My poem Fact Versus Fiction was written about my Battles with Drug addictin
I was addicted to Crystal Meth
As of today I am 8 months sober
i wrote this poem reflecting on the battles I went thru
Please take care of yourself
Ron
| Posted on 2006-02-22 00:00:00 | by Ronswords | [ Reply to This ]
  Steve, I know you said no debates about faith and I have no debate here.
There are few writes here on this site that make me want to read on and on as well as think.
Faith is a hard word to follow as well as what the faith is based on. Religious belives are hard to swallow but it also depends on the experiences one has had with faith. Religion comes in all shapes and sizes and I belive when one is asked to belive in one particular sect that they are limiting the ability to see that whole picture.
I ramble on.
The young lady at your door has a strong belief in her god. I have found that the newer people are to the faith the more excited they are to go out and spread the word. The problem is that they have not studied the word long enough to fully explain it to someone else.
I too have read the bible as well as many other forms of writing on religous beliefs.
I am not a religous man per say but I do have a faith in the word of god to a point. You are right in the fact that it is all written by man.
There are to many things unanswered for me to fully put my faith in the word of Man.
I like this write because you go to great lengths to not put someone elses belief down.
The young lady was a eager christain and I feel that you did not shoot her down in her rush to spread the word. To many times I have had conversations with people at the door and more often than not neither of us came away feeling any better about our brliefs.
Well I have ramble long enough and I think this is a great write that you did really anguish over before posting it. That is the sign of a thoughtful person.

Keep the faith in your beliefs

Resect and Admiration

Clyde
| Posted on 2006-02-22 00:00:00 | by Wisdom Seeker | [ Reply to This ]
  hmmm. let me sit and sink this in....
first off, let me tell you that i am glad that i read this. i regret the fact that i read the description beforehand because i believe that this is a piece that should be read without preconceived notions. i honestly thought that the poem was going to be about the young woman.. instead the poem ended up IMO being about you and what you knew and didn't know. i found this to be disappointing, i think she would have been more interesting to read about. nevertheless, the point of this piece was not missed (at least not by me).
i like the fact that the two characters in the piece were in contrast. one older, full of knowledge, and one young and very unskilled in her theology. yet to me this piece was a bit sad. to me it only confirmed that it is faith that makes one secure- not facts and i would rather at any day be the one at the door step with a little knowledge and a whole lot of smile.
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by Sacred Sindy | [ Reply to This ]
  Well, I can see that nevender didn't read the "looking more for literary comments than religious debate" part of your description. (But most people dont really read- they just want someone to tell them what was written.)

As piece of poetry, it is well done. It covers why you have come to the conclusion you have come to with the beauty that was at our doorstep. It shows the inner struggle you were having trying not to break the well-established Christian mythology that rules this century, and leave her still looking for the good without the God.

I love that you have studied this subject with an open mind. I am proud to see you have created a good piece of writing using the knowledge you have gained.

I think it's going to rub some people the wrong way, and they are going to feel they need to attack the writer's beliefs. (And it makes sense, as the write is done well enough that there isn't much to pick at within the confines of "literary comments".)

I really enjoyed this. I have always loved your open-mindedness about religion- all religion.

Love,

Me
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by Chell | [ Reply to This ]
  well i have to down right disagree with you sir. Faith is the only thing that matters!! The Bible says, faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God implying faith is by indulging in God's words and if you doubt the same word that you say you believe ,i have to question you sir.

we walk by faith not by sight sir, as u can see i am using the Bible, and God will not question me if i cannot quote it, as long as it exists. that girls faith is to me realer than yours. reality for a christian is the faith in God, in His word. our reality is our faith. Sir, i question u, are u really living in God, in His Holy SPirit or being ruled by law. Reconsider coz our righteousness is by grace and faith- Grace on God's side, Faith on our side. That's my thought sir.
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by nevender | [ Reply to This ]
  I really like this.
I really like the form here.
I can see you fighting yourself.

'What matters is not the faith, no matter how secure, no matter how sincere
What matters is the reality, now matter how open the question

It’s your happy smile
That makes me hesitate to shatter your illusions

So, please sweet child, don’t press me,
I’ll ruin everything that you are.'

It's her child-like faith that makes her so wonderful, and I think that you could never shatter her belief in God.
Though her facts may have been feeble, her faith was strong enough to carry her.
You may have made her doubt, to question, but that is how you grow.

thank you
& take care
~jennifer
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by joy7542 | [ Reply to This ]
  This poem has such raw emotion within it, you can really tell that this is a true experience that you've recounted to us, and we can feel as if we're experiencing your reactions to it. You have a real talent for writing emotively.
I like how you contrast the girl's beauty and youth, with the implicit ugly, almost sinister, face of religion and the way that religion very often feels outdated. In the lines:

You’re happy now that Christ is in your life
You have a ‘personal relationship’
With a man 2000 years gone

The reader feels for her as a victim of indoctrination and yet they also feel frustrated at her, you create both pathos and annoyance, in subtle tonal changes related to the widening and shortening of lines, and that shows an excellent skill for writing.

But I’ve studied and researched
I know the source of your faith
The words from Babylon now called the “Old Testament”
Jesus’ words as remembered 3 generations after his death
The letters of Paul written by a man from Rome

I know the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Filtered by Carthage, approved by King James
I know the words of Thomas, Barnabas and Clement
Denied by Carthage, forgotten by James

By using the names of the various religious books you seem to have the power in this relationship, even though she is the one inviting you into her religion. The simplicity makes this poem is easy to digest and better highlights the beautiful emotions and observations within your poem.

Just by reading your writing I can tell that you’re a very empathetic person, you finely attuned to people and your characterisation is instinctively perfect and that, above all else, is the real joy of it. A bit like reading the early work of George Orwell because you can feel his affinity for those he observes.

Peace, love and solidarity,
Speacenik.
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by Speacenik | [ Reply to This ]
  I am very firm is my belief as to why I am here and what I must do, but I had to dig my way out of years of Catholic guilt to finally figuire it out. I wonder often how to deal with the faith solicitors at my door. Sometimes I say not today, thank you! Other times I'll exchange a few thoughts with them, but I've never had a pretty little girl with beautiful eyes approach me so I'm not sure of my response to that. I think like you I would have held back from being too harsh or critical, afterall one needs to do some exploration enroute to their self-realization. It was a fun read. Dan
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by dmm | [ Reply to This ]
  my friend, glad u posted this poem. Very powerful writing. I must say, this is such a personal poem, very honest, which IMO makes for beautiful writing. And the last line (our "thief" line), had me gasping for air, mouth open and hit me like a stiff jab from a well seasoned prize fighter. It worked so very very very well and I'm smiling a bit to be a part of this amazing peice of writing.

"You have a ‘personal relationship’
With a man 2000 years gone"

-is such a great stanza.
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by childs | [ Reply to This ]
  Nice. From a religious point of view, I have no opinion (well, I do, but not about your piece, I've made my feelings well known, and, happily for me, they aren't too far from your own.)

Literary-wise, it took a while to drag me in. Once it did, i was spellbound by your chronicles of the legends of religion that history has found imprtant enough to preserve.

So, literary-wise, precis the first 3 stanzas, or give them more of a hook, to drag in those lest suggestive to religion in any form.

Otherwise, I loved it with a passion, it spoke of time immortal, of Gods immortal, of lies and legend, of politics and schemery...in other words: a religious history lesson. Simply brilliant.

As far as those who can't handle it goes...I've always been pissed off by those Christians who feel it fine to shove what THEY think down everyone's throat are absolutely against any other thought by any other person...it reinforces my belief that they're wrong.

Brilliant, Steve, very well done

be happy

Graeme
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by wewak11 | [ Reply to This ]
  Dude,

You're my brother!

You've captured exactly and I mean EXACTLY how I've felt when faced with the little hotties at the door . . . hahaha. In the end I have opted to be merciful, as you have here.

Interesting our research has crossed paths. I've gone down many of the same roads you have, studied the great works of Man, and reached the same conclusions. World Religion and philosophy is a personal interest of mine, and yet in all of it, I've failed to find the totality of Truth over this nagging . . . propaganda that rings false in my knowing heart.

Ah, well, a little mercy's a good thing. Best to let them find out for themselves. Still, something about it gives me the creeps . . . but let me shut up now before I make more enemies than I already have!

Peace, bro!

And Hail!

M~
| Posted on 2006-03-03 00:00:00 | by Vancrown | [ Reply to This ]
  I've been both in my life...the young girl at one point i n my life and you as you are now. It was like staring into a mirror as you read this. I could so relate to you and understand your views and what you were saying to this young girl. I've just begun my study of other things outside of the bible...and it amazes me so much. I have to PM you for I have yet to meet anyone who thought so closely me about the bible and faith. You did a wonderful job with this. I liked the flow and the way you ended this was just perfect. I loved it!

Maggie
| Posted on 2006-03-07 00:00:00 | by Magnolia Steele | [ Reply to This ]
  This is a very strong and well written piece you have here. I am glad that you posted this one. One of the wonderful things about how we live is that we all have the right to our own views and opinions and have the right to say so. I am not an overly religious person but I have the experience of going to sunday school and making first communion. I am episcopal. My mom wanted to expose me to religion and then when I was old enough she allowed me to make my own decisions on whether or not I wished to continue going to church. My decision was not to go. I am not sure why really, but I had a lot of questions and doubts in regards to the bible and I, just as you, feel these people you mention in your poem, are just that...people. Just like you and me. Not some "special power" humans or something. And my life hasnt always been easy. I am very fortunate in that I have a loving family, but I have lost lots of people who were so dear to me in my life, including my dad. He was 26 when he died. I was four. It started with that tragedy and continued with many more deaths along the way. All of them were wonderful good people. I always wondered why, and it just didnt seem fair. But then again, life certainly isnt fair. I see the world the way it is and all the violence, the suffering, and it all just makes me wonder. I cant say that I believe and I cant say that I dont believe. Just as you have said here...I just dont know. NOBODY knows and that is the bottom line. People can argue and debate all they want but it will remain that the living dont know. There seems to be no debate to that. Yet people still do. I really like this poem. I think it is very well written and expressed. I see nothing I would suggest you change here...not one word of it. I wonder about the church and its purpose. It often seems to me that they just want money like everything and everyone else in the world. And as far as all the awful sickness with them damn catholic priests...well that is another subject...but I think that speaks for itself anyway. Sorry if I got personal with my comment, I know that isnt what you were looking for here, but I felt I wanted to share my thoughts with you as I have nothing to criticise about your poem. It is really quite good! Thanks for sharing this. Take care.

Lorna
| Posted on 2006-02-23 00:00:00 | by lmz | [ Reply to This ]
  Ya know Steve...there is a reason why I have you on my mental top five list of best ES writers. Cuz of this.

And I really dont care if you do or dont want to read my political/religious take on your write here for you point out you want literary comments in your desc...so, I'll appease ya:

You ask me what I think
Where are we going?
What will we do
When our time here is over, our work complete?
But it’s not what I think that matters
It's the truth that matters

In the third line there...you should add a question mark at the end.

Now...the truth is...I totally agree with this. I havent read very many books in my life like most people around here do cuz reading books only seem to try and distort my outlook, ya know...and this points out the reason why...it always comes back to "the truth"...if it was found in one book, then there would not be the need to write anymore books...for it would be "The Most Beautiful Write" ever written. And nothing more would need be said or read, for "the book" would encompass all, ya know?

One day when I was a struggling young youth, I had a couple Jehovahs Witness ladies show up at my door. They were your typical door knocking bible thumpers, like this girl you speak of here. Anyway, one of them holds up this pamphlet and it had a nice "everybody loves everybody and can get along" type picture on the cover. The one thing I noticed right off the bat was it had a panda bear throwing or catching (its all a matter of perception) ball from or to a young child.

Now...the lady asks me, "What do you see in this picture that you dont see in everyday life?"

Well...DUH...I reply, "I have never seen a panda bear playing ball with a kid."

Now...that threw them both for a loop and they had to look at the picture for a moment. Then she said, "Well, besides that...what do you see thats missing in the world in this picture?"

HA! By this time I was on the verge of laughing out loud. So I say, "Nothing...other than that, I see that going on everyday."

So she says. "Well, let me just tell you whats missing from the world that is shown in this photo...love and harmony."

"You may think so, but I see that everyday.", I said.

Yeah, it kinda f*cked them up, HA! I could tell by the look on their faces. This was a good write Steve. I havent read a better and more consice religious type of write.

Very well done.
| Posted on 2006-03-08 00:00:00 | by hyproglo | [ Reply to This ]
  Wow, I read this and didn't really get anything religious from it. I guess I heard a bit of a struggle with someone that you loved, or at least greatly admired, and that's what makes the last stanza so powerful. It ties it all together with the beginning and makes for a complete thought. I guess I heard agnostic or athiast tones in it, describing the way you've read all the necessaries and still need something real. The fundamental of christian beliefs is faith. But, you're right, religion always creates controversy, or wars. I had to read this one first, since it spoke of controversy in the description. I think you did a great job at keeping unbiased, and again, I heard it as a "I'm concerned for your feelings/ love poem." Anyway, I thought it was great, and I will finish the rest of your writings this evening.
Thank you for looking at my November 3, 1990, and the comments. Have a great day, and I'll leave some more stuff for you.
Later,
Toby
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by afterglow | [ Reply to This ]
  Well how to break it to you Steve, You have written some OK poems and some poems I have fav’d but this poem is far and away the best thing that I have ever seen from you. Then again, this may be the best poem I have seen on this site.

The simple opening lines remind me of a Jehovah’s Witness or some such and the smile reminds me of those toothpaste advertisement Mormon smiles. The binary opposites of you and me show your differing outlooks. That she feels totally committed to this doctrine flashes in the light in her eyes and also signifies the ‘Light of the Lord’ ect. I get the sense of a very young child in those time old questions that begin with the three W’s Where, What, When. It makes me think of an innocent child’s belief in Father Christmas and she has been told the answers by a trustworthy man.

The lines ‘You have a ‘personal relationship’ with a man 2000 years gone signifies the catchy phrases of modern day theology and it is a chimera for as you affirm it is an impossibility for those in the modern day to grasp the mind set of somebody in a culture so different historically and for that matter geographically.

Your attempt to understand the differing philosophies, theologies and mythologies is obvious in the catalogues of your reading – very impressive, so there is a depth of knowledge much wider than the child has been able to attain partially because of her youth but also because it is implied that she is single focused in her absolute believe in the one God.

Moreover, these faiths were written long after the events and if all history is narrative depending on one’s own and one’s society’s perspective, how much more so, for something that was not transcribed at the time and how much has been lost in translation. Also, religion changes to fit the perceived truth of the day but the source is so remote.

I love this stanza

I know the words of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Filtered by Carthage, approved by King James
I know the words of Thomas, Barnabas and Clement
Denied by Carthage, forgotten by James

But what the heck, I love them all like the word play in ‘From the birth of the sun, to the birth of the son.’

The use of repetition is superb, throughout, as for example.

You ask me what I think
But it’s not what I think that matters
It’s the fact that I don’t know
The fact that you don't know
The reality that no one knows

Men cannot ultimately know what the answer is only a computer like Deep Thought and only after seven and a half million years of pondering the question, in which case it is 42 but then we have never really known the question and of our own personal destinies ‘God isn’t talking.’ By the way, I think you have a typo in ‘No matter how open the question.’

There is an argument that there is no need for complex words in poetry and that one can express ‘Deep Thought’ simply. The vast majority of this poem uses single syllable words (I tried counting but got lazy) and this poem excels.

The end is so tender, how you are reluctant to shatter her sense of self and place, albeit, one wonders if she is so devote would she be persuaded. I would like to say that I wouldn’t change anything but I would. I would delete that ‘w’ and the person who wrote the poem. I would love to have written this – I’m not envious, I have always been this shade of green. I am thinking of changing my quote from the

All old buildings were once scaffolding and workmen whistling

To

What matters is not the faith, no matter how secure, no matter how sincere
What matters is the reality, no matter how open the question.

Hang on a minute you have changed this since yesterday. I’m not convinced that

It's a message of hope, one of good cheer
A message I once believed

Adds anything – don’t mess with perfection! Well OK you did change that ‘w’.
But why take out the ‘For of our personal destinies, God isn’t talking?’

I could write an essay on this poem and if I don’t stop soon I will.

I haven't peeked at what others have said yet. I only know that Sel came home with this clutched in her hot little fist declaring 'Lost Sheep's posted a brilliant poem!' Now I do agree with Sacred Cindy that this works better without any preconcieved notions so I am glad I did not read the description beforehand. Thereafter I disagree and if you ever open a school of thought I will sit at your feet and Sel says that she will join too - even if you do not promise any ultimate truths.

Do I have to say this is a fav and oh, can I use that quote?

Lol
nessie
| Posted on 2006-02-22 00:00:00 | by comradenessie | [ Reply to This ]
  Hello Steve,

This is a touching write, it is a held belief of a person, who at the end the resolve is not to destroy the “illusion” the other has. It leaves it off with a respect toward the other person’s feelings.

~st to st look~

st1: The opening is nice with the person who arrives. The door for me (as I always say) means more than one thing. In the context it can be a physical door as well as an opportunity. The flashes of light also I think of not only light reflected off the eyes but also a cheery continence. The fourth line “message” again this also can be taken a few ways.

st2: this stanza is more plain then the last one. The questions of the other person and the response of it is not important what I think but it is the truth that matters. And what one holds as true is a debatable as anything.

st3: in this stanza are things I have heard, but still they are good sentiments. message of hope and good cheer, and also saying that it was once believed. why do I hear a “what happened” in the back of my head?

st4: here again some things are familiar though I am a little foggy on the seventh line. So without any pretense I am not going to say I know what that is about.

st5: ok I am struggling here as well but I think those are books that didn’t make it into the bible. So this stanza if I am right makes me think of the process the book has undergone to fit the principles of the leader of that time.

st6: hmm this two lined stanza with the book of lies. I think one thing about scripture that is so maddening is that it is hard to tell whether it is literal of figurative. The second line is good too.

st7: In this stanza is an illustration of the wide net the person has read that shows there are no confines of belief to where the person has boxed themselves in. It is in a way is saying to the other: have you also sought out knowledge from these sources?

st8: ok there is a tone here it says to me this: this is what it all that “history” has progressed into. I could be wrong but that is how it hit me there.

st9: I do like the birth of the sun and son that is a clever addition to this write. although the birth of the sun being the works of men does puzzle me. perhaps it is a implication of the big bang.

st10: in this stanza I see an echo of what was said in two of those lines but the added I don’t know, you don’t know, and in reality no one knows. I see this as doubtful it is a harmonious tone throughout the write. It was written earlier that the truth is what matters, it did not say I have the answers. It does say to me, I am searching for those answers and there are many things that are not answered.

st11: Well faith defined is about trust/belief, it says here it does not matter, to some it does, to me I could care less what someone believes or doesn’t. Reality, well that can be distorted/changed with the perception of the individual.

st12: now the end here I think is gracious. The person is not out to ruin someone, it merely says look do not press me, I do not want to engage you in this. And that is how it should be, people should be left alone when they do not want to hear.

~closing~

I think it is a very nice piece Steve. It has a few things that I cannot say I know about well because I am not pretentious enough haha to say that. Well done,

~mike
| Posted on 2006-02-21 00:00:00 | by inspirit999 | [ Reply to This ]

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