December 15, 2012
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????????
(Xanga is screwing me over again by not allowing me to insert a picture)
The tragedy in CT has made a lot of people ask the question of “Why” to not only other people but also to some god. this made me remember a poem I wrote several years ago to a friend, Melissa, on the death of her friend for many years, Joe. Not everything applies, but enough does.
David
TO MELISSA ON THE DEATH OF JOE Joe, a man I did not know. But I wish to God I did. That is, if my God Were in the habit of granting wishes. But He is not. Otherwise Joe would not have died. For no one would have wished him dead, And everyone would have wished him to live. But maybe my God, instead of granting wishes Is involved in more serious matters like “justice”. But what justice is there in the senseless death Of such a unanimously acclaimed “good man” like Joe? Maybe my God, instead of “justice” and “wish fulfillment” Is involved in working out His “Big Plan”. And I’m supposed to learn the “reason” Why the good suffer as do their loved ones. But the more I try to reason these things out, The more I recognize the prevalence of unreasonableness. And if God’s reasonableness is that different than mine, Then events don’t occur because of (God’s) reasons, But rather in spite of them. The fact that some good can come out of anything bad Does not mean that that good was the reason for the bad. When encountered by the reality of severe misfortune, I should not blame a non-wish fulfilling God, Nor should I fault a non-justice serving God, Nor question a God whose reasons are undecipherable. I should rather realize that if there is any God, He does not exist to accept my challenges But to help me – through other people. To help me pursue my own wishes and dreams, And to help me treat others with love and justice, And to help me to find just enough reason in life To keep me in balance between enjoyment and responsibility. With that help, I can encounter misfortune and Rather than demanding to find the good that caused the bad, I am empowered to make something good out of the bad. No guilt. No blame. No insanity. And so Melissa, this is my wish for you: Do not seek for answers from a god, Seek help from others around you to help you now. And may you have no guilt, no blame, and no insanity. David Kimball
Comments (13)
There are no answers, there is only love. Thank you for sharing this, David.
@songoftheheart - Thank you Song of the Heart. As you can see, like your post, the responsibility after a tragedy like this is not put in the lap of some god, but rather we each have a responsibility to do what we can. If you believe in a god, that god still can only work through humans.
My response on a fb post this morning is asking Why? Why isn’t the mental health section of our healthcare, severely underfunded and unacknowledged by the US? It’s a sad state of affairs when some bad apples spoil a US Constituational admendment, but we have to protect society from these evils that lurk and we have to do it by ourselves. Just my opinion of course and we all know the saying about opinions….
The feelings of wanting to help, do justice, care for the needy, had to have been placed in our hearts by another, a more Powerful Being. Why does He not see the injustice or the unfairness of a heinous act like massacre of defenseless children? My heart feels like a brick in my chest David. The poem above is healing in its words, but the rawness of the even of Friday is so stark.
Wish there were no guns and no deranged people, like wild animals, in this world.
I’ll come back and read later. Just wanted to let you know I’ve finally put up a post this morning, TRYING to answer your questions, but I failed miserably.
i love this piece, and the advice therein.
Blame not, but to accept help from others whom are probably chosen from god to help us…sometimes I do question if god or deities do exist. Its often our own sorrows that make us lose faith.
This line resonates
“Do not seek for answers from a god,” – sometimes, we need to find our own, with or without divine intervention….. Good exploration of subject here.
@persephone_winter - Again, I am ver appreciative of your reflective comment. I know you’re catching up and I don’t mean to pile on your already full plate. But thanks. If I can say this without sounding schmultzy, I think we resonate on several planes together.
@curiousdwk -
oh we do? Which planes and where do we fly to therein?
Plates are full, but there’s always space to read your “resonating” words…..
Just wanted to say HEY!
HUGS!!! C.
@adamswomanback - @adamswomanback - Thanks for the re-connect. I’ve tried to get to your site a few times, but I’m blocked. Good to see/hear you.
@curiousdwk - Weird. I’m on Friend’s Lock…but you shouldn’t be “blocked”. I just came back here in March. And now it seems Xanga might be ending. ??? So, if so, I will go back to posting on WordPress.
Hope you are doing well! HUGS!!!
@curiousdwk - I just looked…there only 3 people in my blocked-list/just a few “trolls”…you are NOT there, though.
I’ll be at http://twoberry-bob.livejournal.com/ I’m pretty sure. But darn, I hope that Xanga 2.0 survives somehow, because it’s such an incredible FILING SYSTEM. Not just my Scrabble word lists, but my doctors’ appointments, hyperlinks to favorite websites, so many things. And of course THE COMMUNITY we’ve built.