The problems of this world
Are not, as so many believe,
The result of some grand mishap―
Something gone terribly wrong―
With God preparing to swoop down
Any minute now to fix it all
And put it back like it was.
No, the problems of this world
Are the very design of it―
That man would be left here
To his own devices
To see how he responds to the insanity,
And whether he will himself
Strive for better.
It’s all a test to see
Whether we each would really prefer
A dry land to the chaotic waters―
Or the other way around.
It’s a test to see who would prefer
The light to the darkness
The good to the bad
The truth to the lie
The Satan to the Jesus―
And particularly,
To see who among us
Would have the heart
To fix in himself the same faults
From which he suffers when
They are the faults of those around him.
Can you see the Golden Rule in that?
I ask you again:
Can you see the Golden Rule in that?
That is the design of this place.
Eden was just the opening scene―
Where God brought only the two for a visit,
So as to frame most excellently the story
Before it would begin to unfold into
The grand demonstration it was to be
From its Alpha and Omega.
Here is the lesson I have learned:
Heaven is not the sudden
Repairing of this world
So many are expecting,
But another world unto itself―
Available only to those who would learn
To deny themselves the darkness
And keep to the light while they are here.
This world was never
Supposed to be a Utopia;
It is a proving ground.
We are supposed to see
What’s wrong with this world
And to decide to go the other way
If we want―
If we dare―
To swim against the tide
And change in ourselves
All that is not good.
That’s why you were put here
In this beautiful-ugly place,
So you could decide and
Show your decision
By your thoughts
And attitudes
And actions.
