A Small Island
On this small island,
calm is surrounded by the loud rage
of efforts to convince.
I wonder why more people don't live here!
To the East of me are the non-believers.
To the West are the true believers.
The non-belivers are the certainers
who are sure God is dead
and maybe never was.
They quote scholars from the past
and brilliant young scientists.
They present strong evidence
that the true believers
have yet to make a convincing argument.
True believers do have a Herculean task
with swallowing whales
and the dead coming to life.
That the true believers
don't have a foolproof case
is the major argument of the skeptics.
From that, skeptics seem to need
no proof of their view,
other than the true believers' case
has not been made.
I guess that means I have to take
their argument on faith.
Now that strikes me as rather arrogant.
On the other hand, we have a book with
centuries of human-written
and rewritten tales of wondrous things.
When questioned, there is assurance
that the book is the truth.
That God writes with many pens.
And on faith it must be accepted
as the Word.
East and West are much alike
for all their seeming differences.
Seeking the comfort of closure,
any answer is better than ambiguity.
Faith seems to be a way of giving up reason.
So do come to this peaceful island
where we just don't know
and are OK with that.
Admitting that there are some things unknowable
is more freeing than humbling.
Doug Minnis
December 8, 2009