Jack Pelham

You can rail against the notion
That any human should deserve
Anything good—
And indeed, many in their religion
Do just that.
It is quite the fashion, actually!

But I should like to point out
Two observations for your apt consideration.

The casual society eats its popcorn
While its champions
Slug it out on the field.

And hardly a one in the crowd
Gives serious thought
To doing anything—
Anything, mind you—
So deliberate themselves.

There is God
And there is the man’s view of God.

And guess which one he worships
If they are not one and the same.

A man can stand here
For quite some time
And still not see
What all is going on.

The obvious is not enough
To make his mind switch on
And take notice.

That, it seems,
Is something he must do
For himself.

Or not.

You were told, of course,
But you were not listening.

But perhaps some other day
When all the planets
Happen to be aligned just so,
It’s a message you might just receive,
And be the better for it.

And I will hope for that.

She giggles,
Despite her best intentions
Toward diligence,
And uncertain as to
Why she’s giggling at all—
It being counterproductive,
Of course,
To the task at hand.

It’s amazing
Just what a blessing or curse
One person may be to another.

When does anybody really give his all?

And for that matter,
Does anyone even know how?

Some choose to love, thinking love the greatest of all the virtues, and citing the example of none other than Jesus himself in support of their choice. And yes, Jesus was the master of love! But he was also the master thinker, and master of the scriptures. He was master at teaching and correcting and rebuking and training and understanding and explaining and counseling and leading and sacrificing.

Not many are likely to agree, but how we choose to see this world is exceedingly important. Whether we are willing to see things as they are, or whether we choose to twist them in our minds so as to see them as we wish they were—this is one of the most fundamental questions about what kind of people we choose to be.

The ability of humans to imagine things different from how they are is an amazing gift, but the regular pretending that they are different from how they are is a nasty and widespread habit, and may be among the most hurtful things we do to ourselves.