Christine at read Write Poem is asking us to get metaphysical and the prompt at One Single Impression is ‘Word’. Both of these seem to be right up my street. My interests, apart from poetry and literature, include science, philosophy and spirituality. I’ve chosen to concentrate on the macro world but the micro world inside the atom is just as awe inspiring and unknown. Even hard nosed academics like the novelist Martin Amis said recently that in the face of the fact that 98% of the universe is dark material, which we know nothing about, it is irrational and counter intuitive to dismiss the possibility that there is a God. In a lecture delivered by Amis and James Wood, the Harvard Professor of Literature, the present was referred to not as post-Christian but as post-secular. People are hungry for spirituality and theology is being taken seriously here in the U.K. where religious practice has declined far more than in the U.S. Anyone who has been reading my blog for over a year will know of my hostility to Richard Dawkin’s campaign for atheism which has currently taken the form of an atheist bus. If I were to put a label on myself I am an agnostic Christian or maybe I’m a Christian agnostic.
Metaphysical
Words are a lamp to the dark matter of the soul –
the chi, essence, life force – that no longer inhabits
a cadaver stretched out on a table.
Questions about the soul’s previous existence
and continuation after death rattle like dry bones
in an empty casket – without words.
If the universe were a fist, all that we know about it
would fit on the nail of my little finger. We still do not know
why we exist but we do have to be in order to be not.
We do not know why the device that drives the universe
is speeding up, flinging stars further into space. We toss
a salad of words like ‘black holes’, ‘chaos’ and ‘entropy’.
In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God…
‘Your word is a lamp to my feet’ (Psalm 119: 105)
‘To be or not to be…’ (Shakespeare: Hamlet)
‘Hands that flung stars into space’ (Graham Kendrick)
‘In the beginning was the Word…’ (John 1:1))
April 26, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Our words an open up meaning, light our way in our quest for understanding, or shut down meaning. It seems to me the debate between believers and non-believers is a fight to accept or reject limitation. We take turns fighting for limitation!
April 26, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed this, lots to mull over, very meaty.
April 26, 2009 at 3:54 pm
the more we know, the less we realize we know…you’ve written a piece filled with humbling awe.
April 26, 2009 at 4:11 pm
‘we have to be we in order to be not’ You said volumes with few words.
I describe myself as a Christian. I was married to an atheist for 21 years. Now divorced, I learned the hard way that it is fruitless to try to talk anyone out of their beliefs. I can’t drag him into Heaven, and he couldn’t push me out.
April 26, 2009 at 4:54 pm
This was good. To me, any knowledge system actually speaks more of us than it does of the universe.
April 26, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Sandy, when either of two sides claims to have the monopoly of truth or the moral high ground, it leads to a ‘fight’. Much better not to plave limits on what we know.
Neverending story, you are welcome.
qualcosa di bello, you put it well. The fact that the universe exists and that there is life in it, is awesome.
barb, you too are welcome. There was an error in the line about having to be before before we can choose not to be but I’ve corrected. I think it was clear what I was trying to say.
Tony, you are right…and knowledge systems evolve and change.
April 26, 2009 at 5:50 pm
If you ask me whether I believe in the Lord or not, I will say that I am not capable enough to say so, but I think, if He does not exist it is necessary to invent Him, and that I am afraid of Him.
If you ask me whether I am a believer or non-believer, I will say that I believe in myself, and there in starts all spirituality and religiousness.
If you ask me what existence means to me, I will say that a boy is a boy and a star is a star because the composite nature of protons, neutrons and electrons make me see and believe so; and that every single entity in the cosmos and chaos is but a jumble of microscopic physical entities and nothing else.
If you ask me what does ‘word’ mean to me, I will say that the human civilisation stands on it and it was the greatest invention of man alongside fire and wheel.
April 26, 2009 at 7:17 pm
“If the universe were a fist, all that we know about it
would fit on the nail of my little finger.”
Wow, great image created here! Lots to think about in this poem!
April 26, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I agree with Linda on the line: “If the universe were a fist, all that we know about it
would fit on the nail of my little finger.” Your questions and imagery show how spiritual the path of an agnostic can be.
April 26, 2009 at 8:32 pm
this is good….i do not always agree….or disagree..like my poem….its the questions to me not the answers….keep up the good writing
April 26, 2009 at 9:20 pm
A good poem indeed Carol – I like how you have made complicated thoughts clear and flowing with some neat images. Getting metaphysical is obviously something you’re good at!
April 26, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I think that limitation is simply something we choose to do to keep control. I remember being fascinated in the idea of all energy moving toward chaos in college– your poem evokes this feeling. I am a believer who believes that is foolishness to think we can understand the great mystery and that God enjoys our explorations and questions.
April 26, 2009 at 9:47 pm
‘In the beginning was the Word…’
This has always been one of my favourite lines to ponder. Thanks for sharing your poem, Carole, plenty to mull over here!
April 26, 2009 at 9:47 pm
really well done – and look at how it has got people talking, sharing, finding a place of mutuality despite differing beliefs.
April 26, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Subhanjan,
When pushed, I do believe in God but there is some doubt in my mind.
Linda,
Please English teacher, tell me if I have tried to crowd too much into this poem. It is one of my weaknesses.
Liz,
I am more of a believer than a non-believer. I could never be an atheist. I was brought up in a household that did not go to church. I chose to go to Sunday school.
Kay,
The ultimate questions do have a hold on me and I keep coming back to them.
Pam,
I agree we have finite minds so we can’t expect to understand the infinite. I remember a preacher once saying that we have brains and should use them to ask questions.
Claire,
There is such poetry in the bible and plenty to ponder to. There is so much in that one line.
sarah,
There is a desperate need for people to come together rather than be divided by beliefs into them and us.
April 27, 2009 at 2:03 am
“Questions about the soul’s previous existence
and continuation after death rattle like dry bones
in an empty casket – without words.”
That I think this points to the essence of our existence. Without words, humans are nothing more than dry bones.
Wonderful post.
April 27, 2009 at 6:55 am
I like philosophical poems. (I like writing them too!) One of my favorite philosophers, naturally, is Derrida. His famous quote:
There is nothing outside the text. [Of Grammatology]
( or another way of saying
“… and the Word was God.” [John 1:1] ?
hmm … )
April 27, 2009 at 8:34 am
Angie,
Thanks. I agree that language is the essence of existence. Without language we can’t think.
Philip,
As I understand it, Derrida thought the transcendental signifier was an illusion. The chain of signifiers (words) and what they signify stops with God. We can either agree with him that there is nothing outside the text or believe that God is a mystery. Am I correct in interpreting you as saying that God is just a word; a word that can’t be explained by reference to other words?
April 27, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Eloquent thought processes. Profound and powerful.
April 28, 2009 at 2:56 am
Dear Carole–
This is great stuff!!
Thanks–and…from one agnostic Christian of a more mystical bent, to another…I sometimes believe that my unbelief is because I don’t have a big enough framework yet to put God on, so my mind refuses to be co-opted into putting God on the current one. And…I suspect that will always be true. Somebody has said, ‘I wouldn’t walk across the street to talk with a God I could understand’ or something like that.
I am looking forward and thinking about our ‘project’. For those you reading this and curious…you’ll know…all in good time!
Thanks again, Carole!
April 29, 2009 at 1:14 am
Lots of great images in this poem and lots to think about as well. Excellent interpretation of this prompt