A Few Minor Sins - July 31 2024

 

A Few Minor Sins

July 31, 2024

They called themselves born again.

To be born the first time

is a miracle;

so a second chance at life

seems too good to be true.

But I can’t be sure

just what sort of Christian

they see themselves.

Is it the punishment and judgement type,

or social justice and love?

Is it the afterlife

   —  wafted up to heaven

while leaving the sinners behind to burn  —

or is it the here and now

doing good?

And I can only hope

they believe in fun as well.

Because the self-righteously smug

are insufferable,

and the puritanical, I suspect

are trying too hard

to make up for something bad.

Either that

or just wanting to belong,

nodding along

while keeping their doubts to themselves.

As for me, I’m incapable of belief.

Apparently

you can be born a skeptic

the first time,

unmoved by faith

no matter how you've been raised

or have it hammered into you.

There is a humility in this

I find appealing  —

no heavenly Father

watching over just me,

no all-powerful god

so insecure

he depends on my belief.

Rather, I am insignificant,

a speck of cosmic dust

and the product of happenstance;

a random mutation, here and there,

a vast indifferent universe.

But still,

I have nothing against religion,

because life is hard

and whatever gets you through it

is fine with me.

Just not too preachy, please.

And perhaps allow yourself

a few minor sins.

Because forgiveness

is religion’s great gift,

and learning to forgive

yourself, as well as others

is where empathy lives

and love begins.