For What It's Worth

[Invictus]

Pardon the narcissism, but I wanted to share a poem I wrote about a decade ago.  Comments welcome.


Bumper Sticker Moment

"God is in control"
its faded sign proclaimed
as the battered Chevy clattered by,
gripping my thoughts.

In that instant of still standing time,
inner vision swept past groves of galaxies,
toward the remnant Big Bang embers,
billions of years behind and beyond,
and there came full force
the shattering immensity of time and space,
its mind-numbing vastness incomprehensible,
its matter-energy immeasurable.

With lucid recognition,
I reeled.
All this . . . ALL this!
If He exists,
He exceeds all this.
A boundless task
demands a boundless God.

From beginning to end,
every movement of every mote,
that was, is or is to be-- 
every interaction
escalating exponentially
across time and space-- 
must be in His grasp.

For were one unknown,
outside His control,
then He is less than His task
and He crumbles
into the dust of our imaginations.

In the infinite reaches of His control,
all must be known, foreseen.
Whatever our pretensions,
there is no free will,
no opportunity of chance,
no prospect of novelty.
There is only the acting of a script
"as if" the world were an unfolding,
when, in truth,
there can be no deviation
from the known.

For were free will genuine,
were there the merest mote
of true choice and creativity,
then it stands outside of Him, His will, His control
. . . and He vanishes.

In that bumper sticker moment,
when time stood still,
I felt with clarity the well-spring of my disbelief:
In Him, the nature of things
takes on a pall of abhorrent inhumanity
and life becomes absurd.

Invictus

[Guardian85]

Deep thoughts. Articulate, coherent presentation. Thought provoking.

I like it! 

[xSilverPhinx]

Definitely outdid the bumper sticker there, but that in itself is not a compliment.

I like it, especially as the thoughts unfolded when triggered by the sticker (a single authoritative assertion)  to reach the opposite conclusion (well reasoned arguments).

[Invictus]

Guardian85 and xSilverSphinx,

Thanks for taking the time to comment.  I'm glad you like it.  I tried to express some elements of why I hold an atheist worldview.  I'm interested in how other atheists have arrived at their atheist worldviews and whether they have had similar thoughts regarding the main thrusts of the poem.

Invictus

[Gawen]

I like it. For me, the bestest part is the lastest part.

I felt with clarity the well-spring of my disbelief:
In Him, the nature of things
takes on a pall of abhorrent inhumanity
and life becomes absurd.

[Recusant]

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

This topic has had a fair number of views already, for a smallish site like this. I'm pretty sure that non-members add to the views, so it's possible that the majority of those who've clicked on this topic simply aren't able to comment unless they register as members.

I tried to express some elements of why I hold an atheist worldview.  I'm interested in how other atheists have arrived at their atheist worldviews and whether they have had similar thoughts regarding the main thrusts of the poem.

Invictus

I enjoyed your effort, and certainly appreciate the sentiment behind it.

No doubt many who at some point reject the theistic approach have had similar thoughts, including myself. On the other hand, the religious have answers to the points you raise in the poem. Whether those answers are genuinely satisfactory seems to depend on how willing any particular person is to suspend their disbelief, and what seems more credible to them: A god, who is the end to imponderables, or a naturalistic universe arising from natural (in at least one sense) beginnings, and about which we may never really have conclusive answers. I have to admit that both approaches have their strong points, but I'm with you in choosing the latter.

[Ali]

I like it. For me, the bestest part is the lastest part.

I felt with clarity the well-spring of my disbelief:
In Him, the nature of things
takes on a pall of abhorrent inhumanity
and life becomes absurd.

I agree with this. 

I also liked that this was all inspired by a simple "throwaway" experience like reading a battered old bumper sticker.