Herb515

If you learned how to worry, you know how to pray
And you likely do both each day.
You know worry gets you nowhere,
about that there is nothing more to say.
But when you pray, sins and cares
seem to pass away--but do they?

The prayers you use, some old, some new
some are about others, some are about you,
some are long and loud so they can be heard far away,
or doesn’t it work that way?
Silent prayers and thoughts too---are they heard?
That no one can say.

But it wasn’t always this way.
There was a time when sins were in fashion
and sacrifices were the only means of redemption
Animal rituals were the preferred route
to judgment day,
although sometimes sinners themselves were made to pay,
as when Abraham offered his only son as prey.

Around the Common Era (70 C.E.),
praying was first adopted to atone for human frailty
Yanneh, a rabbinical cabala synod,
decreed that civility trumped sacrifices, and
morality was more than archetypical rituals
that passed for religious legality.
That was when praying, a benign form of begging,
replaced animal and human sacrifices; the voodoo of
that day, and.
so the culture changed for good. by way
Soon after, Jesus was the last sacrifice for the sins of man.
Afterward praying became the new talisman.

But prayers came with a new price.
They were unstructured, disorganized, rambling,
often failed to deliver, and were misused.
Prayers were written to atone for every known vice,
They came in many flavors-- repetitive, petitioning, ritualistic,
meditative, intercessory, collaborative, and colloquial
atonements, socially acceptable and perfuse.


Changes from physicality to spirituality was the new
psychology that enhanced life by illusion and fantasy
all without contrition, embarrassment or apology—
a cultural conundrum!

The daunting struggle continued by uncovering truths
and casting them away to the ethers.
It included confession to reduce life stresses,
and required daily conditioning from childhood on,
until it was haunting.

So many prayers are not answered; the failure rate is high
Sometimes it seems all that remains is to pray a lie:
(A Parable)
A young boy prayed each night for a new bike,
but nothing happened that he liked,
so he stole one and prayed for forgiveness,
while riding a new bike.

The challenge is to preserve a culture, which evolved from brutality to intimacy whereby prayers pursue problems,
but are often polluted by problems pursuing prayers.
Prayers and meditation reside in the same mind,
and need faith to reconcile the human and spiritual needs of mankind.
Praying is noisy, faith is silent, and each is mutually exclusive yet together are gentle to the point of sedation.
It matters not the length, speed or intensity of each,
their catharsis goes to the furthest reach of the ether
in tandem with a cacophony of all other worldly sounds,
any one of which is capable of murdering the hope they promise,
by canceling prayers from closed eyes and open mouths.

But what if there is not more to life than living it?
Then the secret is out, the mystery is over!
A new liturgical fabric will be needed
or mankind will again roam blindly to atone.
What new process awaits us for condoning and atoning?
Can a poem, a poem in harmony with the universe better express
our most intimate thoughts, and fulfill our needs
in every verse?
Whether written, spoken, or heard, poetry provides a speck of light
to anybody in the maelstrom of blight or fright.
Poets and poetry may yet remain as the only
stream of consciousness left to lift mankind to heavenly heights.
. Thank God, I’m an Atheist!

zaac

just because a prayer isnt answered or answered when you want it doesnt mean it wasnt heard. i'm sure you've heard your child or a child beg and plead for one more piece of candy or to go to chuckee cheeses etc etc. but you tell them no. there are 3 ways god answers prayers...yes...no...and wait. in any case, the point is not appeasing our guilty concience, but of accepting a fathers word just as your child would that he said no to protect us or he has something better in mind.

the synod you refer to was a rabinnical aquiescence to the fact that sacrifices were no long needed. to understand this you must understand the concept of sacrifice and its place. for sin, there is no satisfactory payment but death as no one sin is greater than another whether its lying or murder. its all wrong. In lieu of killing those he loved due to the fact that human nature dictates sin is going to happen, an animal sacrifice was instituted. Jesus dying was the final word of god saying, that he was offering the same thing he offered to the Hebrews to anyone through that sacrifice.

your final sentence shows your unsureness...thank god I'm an atheist? in reality, atheist believe in a god called No God, which in fact according to everything religious and satanic is in fact a god.

Herb515

Yes but did you enjoy the poem?

MsJacquiiC

Ha! I love this comment/reaction for some odd reason.

Jacquii.

MsJacquiiC

Ignoring ZAAC ((mumbles "athiests believe in a god called No God" and then rolls eyes as if I have now heard it all...))
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But to answer your question HERB - I don't even consider this writing a poem really. I liked it for it's education aspect & reflective quality. But IMO there's nothing overtly poetic about it. I mean it's a wonderful essay or sermon for the common man or diatribe on religion v. spirituality or interesting opening statement for a thesis on monotheology - but it's not a poem. Just because you've chopped up some lines into stanzaic format doesn't make it a poem. It's prose and it's an interesting write, though I'm still not exactly sure what your trying to say or what type of knowledge you're espousing here... Sorry - but thanx for the sharing just the same.

Jacquii.

Oh! One section I found incredibly interesting is your parable:
Twas an nice bit of introspective poetry inside the personal-interpretive prose lol...

Herb515

Thank you for your comments. They are greatly appreciated. MY interest in poetry is to educate, challenge and entertain the audience (and myself), and through in some sardonic humor when possible. Where Do Prayers Go was conceived (as a poem). and composed (as a poem) after hearing a very religious person blindly accept the faith of her parents and priests. The absence of an iambic meter is deliberate for to seek poetic rhythm at the expense of the importance of the research and findings is to beg the issue. The freeform style employed is not rhythmic but is syllabic--the latter another form of poetry. Jacquii, please read it again. Thanks and regards,

Herb

zaac

i would have liked it if it were a poem or something other than a personal opinion. but then again, it's difficult to read things that are based on half truth and conjecture....but we've been told for 2,000 years this would happen.

MsJ, don't roll your eyes...i was serious. the premise of a god is not necessarily who or what you believe in or don't believe in. it is where you put your faith or the lack thereof. it might seem like splitting hairs, but its accurate.

by the way, no i didnt like it, but not for content or lack of it. i actually hesitated for a few days before i looked at replies to my original one. i was expecting a full barrage of whatever. but nothing, not even a one sentence rebuttal. You can believe in Him now or when you're standing if front of him, but sooner or later, you will...and its gonna suck to be you trying to explain yourself while He looks at you in total amusement.

zaac

MsJacquiiC