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Page: Profile: Poetry
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Poem Specs
VxPoem ID: 32866
Category:
pagan_spirituality
Posted: May 2nd. 2008 10:39:02 PM
Views: 892 |
The Mystery
by B. T. Newberg
Age Group: Adult
The central, energizing idea of my religion is that God is a mystery. Indeed all truth, all life, all the earth, and all of existence is a mystery. And this mystery is unsolved.
Because God is an unsolved mystery—a question and not an answer—there is no specific “way.” There is no law, no revelation, no one true religion.
What there is, is a deep sense of reverence, awe, and gratitude in relation to mystery. Whatever comes from this reverential attitude is worship.
Mystery is what transcends us. Mystery is what there is before our creativity enters the picture. There is not yet God, nor is there religion.
But when we apprehend mystery, we are drawn to explore it, to try to solve it. We cannot solve this mystery, but we are driven to it nonetheless.
Ultimately, we learn not to try to solve it but rather to play with it. It is at this point that religion is born.
Like children on the sandy seashore, we mold an image and a name out of the mystery, perhaps even make up stories to go with it.
And these things are beautiful because they express our love for the mystery, and also because we know that ultimately they will be dissolved in the mystery. They are not true forever. In fact, eternal truths are the most fleeting of all.
This is why I can say what God is like. I know that when I describe God, or when I speak to God, I am not communicating any special fact. But my love is expressed.
That love is all that matters to God. Whatever I say is to Her like the jabbering of children. She knows I do not mock Her, but that my love for Her is sincere. I am expressing my love for Her in the only way I know how.
Though I am not Christian, this idea is well summed up in a Biblical verse from Paul:
we dot not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is in the mind of the Spirit. (Romans 8.26-27)
We do not know the way to worship, but love carries what is in our hearts to God, and God knows that our hearts are sincere.
True worship is too deep for words, but our words and actions show our willingness to be fools for God.
Author's Notes: c 2004, autumn
As a Naturalistic Pagan, I believe in evidence. There is no evidence that deities and magic are "real" in the most literal sense, but they may yet be moving and powerful. These poems are a tribute to the inspiration of Pagan ways.
For more information on naturalism, see HumanisticPaganism.com.
Author's Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
More Poems: B. T. Newberg has posted 73 additional poems- View them?
Author's Profile: To learn more about B. T. Newberg - Click HERE
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