keith jeffries

This Friday

by keith jeffries

Friday 19th April 2019 11:21 am

This Friday

We depart but have no destination

lost we harbour no hope for the future

We have abandoned all that was given

to pursue the worthless and uncertain

We deceive ourselves and others with us

no answers or alternatives come our way

We engage in animosity and hostility

with backs turned against love and acceptance

We believe we are masters of our own destiny

pride and arrogance consume our very being

We entice others to follow our way

as the blind lead the blind nowhere

We seek instant gratification daily

disgruntled and frustrated as a result

We have turned our backs on ourselves

to follow the road which leads to perdition

We can return as a welcome awaits us

it takes only a new spirit and self will

There is a faithful remnant which keeps guard

which has not erred or strayed from the way

🌷(4)

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Comments

<Deleted User> (19708)

Sun 21st Apr 2019 14:59

Keith,

Well done! "We seek instant gratification daily" sums it all up. Religion is more than worship. I believe it establishes a "code of morality" that defines what it means to be human. Are we just intellingent animals? Good job. From one old soldier to another, I salute you.

CQ

keith jeffries

Sat 20th Apr 2019 19:17

Graham,

Sorry, I have replied to your comment on your profile.

Keith

Graham Sherwood

Sat 20th Apr 2019 12:11

Keith we are world's apart theistically but I understand your disgruntled view of the current goings on in many of the church's factions.

What I would take issue with (with all due respect of course) are your comments........

.........'filled with dismay to see society and the world more than ever engaged in violence and greed'.

Surely, it has ever been thus with much evidence of the same in the bible itself.

Being Christian, for want of a better word, is as you imply, being kind, chivalrous, loving and tolerant, none of which require a church.

Greed is such a vicious entity that it always finishes up consuming itself. This is certainly true in the commercial world and is clearly represented in the human condition.

thought provoking work!

keith jeffries

Sat 20th Apr 2019 09:28

Dorothy,

Thank you indeed for your contribution and comment. I value the opinions of others when offered constructively and with kindness. You will notice that every second line of the poem begins with the word "we", this includes me, perhaps more than most. I no longer attend attend any church as I am at odds with the Institution for a variety of reasons, however this has not affected my personal faith, for which I am grateful.

I am passionate about Justice and Peace yet filled with dismay to see society and the world more than ever engaged in violence and greed. This is what drives me. Christian ethics motivate me as they have our legal system for centuries.

Thank you again, it is much appreciated.

Keith

<Deleted User> (21487)

Sat 20th Apr 2019 08:16

Keith
I regected my Catholic Faith on the day that I left school and experienced a great sense of relief - but - I retained a sense of what is right.
I have also retained a sense of 'presence' and I have no idea what I mean by that, It is not a 'God' in any shape or form, and Faiths mean nothing to me, I think that they are dangerous, It maybe an awareness of the natural world - but who knows?

I feel strongly that 'Our' role in life is to nuture all life for the future of all, both people and nature.

Sounds a bit self-righteous, and I can't always live up to it, but it beats being told to believe in stories that are not believable and to recite words that have no real meaning.
You mention apathy and fear I would like to add selfishness to that list and also the determination of some to be 'Top Dog' without thought of others.

Dorothy
P,S, I have expierenced 'Good Will' within this blog so I know that some WoLers feel the same.

keith jeffries

Fri 19th Apr 2019 21:55

Jennifer and Steve,

If I may address you together despite your different comments. I do not mention Christianity or any other Faith group in this poem. I am endeavouring to address a moral decline in society whose values have been diluted or diminished. Religion once played an important part but no longer; with no alternative moral compass to replace it. In my lifetime I have witnessed a society which is self ridden, where communities have fragmented, where wealth speaks louder than need. When most people rejected Christianity they threw the baby out with the bath water. It was goodbye to Church and God which was followed by secularism, greed, self agrandisment and relativism and nothing to combat them. In the span of my life time I have seen the demise of decency. This is not wholly attributable to the absence of religion, Church or God. It is a trend which stems from secularism.

The situation is not beyond redemption. Its opponents are apathy and fear. It is interesting Jennifer that it is you who mention Christianity nor a slip of the pen that I wrote this on Good Friday.

Thank you both for reading this poem and making your well founded comments, which I appreciate greatly

Keith

raypool

Fri 19th Apr 2019 21:32

Hi Keith. A truly zealous post which neatly précis the woes of all mankind (and womankind). I just wonder who saved the souls of the pre Christians, or were they automatically condemned through lack of guidance? The Christian Church as far as I am aware hijacked existing means of worship and converted people who already had a religion.

I am not sure who your sincerely held feelings here are designed to reach. There are actually some of us who have our own designs for living a full and humane existence, and reading your poem just makes me feel inadequate under the light that it shines out. I hope that makes sense; I know you are a very caring and reasonable person. Just wanted to put my point of view!

Some of the tone of the writing reminds me of doorstep pleas from Jehovah's Witnesses.

Ray

jennifer Malden

Fri 19th Apr 2019 20:06

Hi Keith! Presumably about our rejection of Christianity? ... backs turned against love and acceptance - we have abandoned all that was given - we can return as a welcome awaits us.... . If not, n p as I am famous (in the family) for being as thick as a post! (As they are allo male, this doesn't unduly distress me!) If I am on the right track, it seems to me that the problem is that nothing else has appeared as a substitute for the basic ethics of Christanity - to pursue the worthless and uncertain - to seek instant gratification daily have always been against these. Great writing anyway - food for thought.

Jennifer

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