THE TUNNEL OF LIGHT
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Saturday, 9 August 2014
THE TUNNEL OF LIGHT
I wonder
So many souls
Living so farther away
From time and space
All
Speak alike
About
A Lazarus journey
They took
Transcending
This world
It goes beyond my grasp
How could it be?
What does it matter
If I choose to be an atheist
And think this life
To be one and only
This world to be one and only
Death to be the end of everything
Or If I am a believer
Have faith in God
In the immortality of the soul
And in rebirth
And
I feel my life fleeing
Hushed
and gentle like the gazelle
Truth
Always remains
The Truth
Inspired by Gabriela Mistral’s
poem Dusk, I used the last two lines (in italics & red fonts) of Dusk in my poem. This is
written for Grace’s Sunday’s Mini-challenge: Gabriela Mistral @ Real Toads
&
I’m also sharing the poem with
Poetry Pantry @ Poets United
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Those lines from Gabriela's poem intrigued me too.. A very interesting thought of a life that just ends.. Myself I have no problem with it - it just means that we should do the utmost of the life we have.. So in reality there's no difference..
ReplyDeletefor me it makes me more relaxed to know there's a life after life, that i don't have to pack everything into this life and i don't have to be afraid if it ends too soon.. it makes me less scared of things like sickness and such...
ReplyDeleteindeed. i do agree with Claudia, I feel the same way.
ReplyDeleteI can feel this and I like the way you make it work. Atheists always break my heart, Not to enjoy the love and the embrace of a gracious heavenly Father is i think the height of sadness. The truth is always the truth.
ReplyDeletewe can never know the truth completely yet what we beleive shapes our lives and changes the way we live or make decisions...
ReplyDeleteIn the end it doesn't matter what you believe as long as it sits well with you.
ReplyDeleteEternal oblivion has appeal. Some days.
ReplyDeleteWe do of course live on in our children, which alone justifies our existence. However it all comes down in not wasting your life if the afterlife is uncertain!
ReplyDeleteI love those lines from Gabriela Mistral too ~ Truth is rather subjective from everyone's point of view ~ I learned though as we grow older that we become more religious or spiritual as we come to grips with our mortality ~
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with Real Toads ~ Happy Sunday ~
Yes, truth always does remain truth. I think in this life we all have to choose the 'truth' we believe, and in death we will find out whether our 'truth' was truth. I do think our choices matter, however, and I personally could never be an atheist....the world about us did not arise from nothingness.
ReplyDeletetruth will indeed find you out in the end...and at that point it is too late...while we can respect every0ones beliefs now...we will live with those choices, one day
ReplyDeleteBeautiful poem!
ReplyDeleteSuch a unique take on the Lazarus journey.. I love that line.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kerry...Yes, brilliant!
DeleteZQ
Really interesting poem. Certainly what is, is what is--regardless of how we like to wish we could shape it --just by wishing. Thanks. k.
ReplyDeleteI am like Claudia and Nataša. There is reassurance and comfort in knowing that life does not stop here and there. And maybe this belief impacts the way I live. Thought-provoking poem, Sumana.
ReplyDeleteIt is all a mystery that seems too complex for our human brains to grasp...I love what you've written.
ReplyDeleteTruth remains truth, well said, and no way for us to really know it, at least without our own mystic experience,.. but my heart chooses to believe anyways...
ReplyDeleteThose lines stood out to me as well and I like the way you frame them with your thought-provoking poetry.
ReplyDeleteA very cool write, Sumana. I ponder such things too, especially the tales of those who have traveled the tunnel of light and returned.....
ReplyDeleteOh...interesting poem...belief systems...I will go with the weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth for the hypocrites one:)
ReplyDeleteWell written and thought out.
ReplyDeleteTo me faith is a form of self-defence. Any kind of faith and I hope never to lose it.
I'm with you on this Sumana. There is only one truth, the rest is mostly stories we tell ourselves. But hopefully they serve as guidance for living. Unfortunately, some are fanatic about their stories.
ReplyDeleteA well written though provoker. I enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteYou have stoked our thoughts to think of endings....Perhaps to consider what we truly believe
ReplyDeleteA very intriguing idea. I have been toying with religions since school which finally gave way to atheism around the time I entered college. But recently, I think I am oscillating between atheism and agnosticism, mostly due to the fact that atheism demands a kind of rigid certainty that there is indeed, no higher power. Now that is something I don't know to be true, irrespective of my belief. Something like Santa Claus and Faeries - you know that they aren't real and this knowing something, coexists with a naive belief that they might, if only in some unknown form. At present, I don't know where I stand, haha.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, brilliantly penned. A thought-provoking piece.
I do believe there is life after this one and I do believe in God, it just makes me more optimistic, hopeful about things around me....smiles... beautifully penned Sumana! :)
ReplyDeletewell penned!
ReplyDeleteThe Buddha says, three things cannot be long hidden : the sun, the moon and the truth.
Oh Yes!
ReplyDeleteTruth is truth
No matter who believes it.
You've articulated this with precision.
It really doesn't matter what the belief...the task remains the same: to be and do our best each day.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
.. It goes beyond my grasp how could it be ~ for me these lines had the most impact. A dilemma for many.
ReplyDeleteBetter to live with open eyes and heart...~ feel your sincere intent for clarity...
ReplyDeleteOh, Sumana, how gorgeous. I guess we all wonder about the afterlife, if there is one, reincarnation... no one has come back to tell us about it (and even though I'm Christian, I do not believe in the resurrection or the miracles, etc.)!!
ReplyDeleteSo many religions separate us rather than unite. Atheist, who cares? I know a lot of atheists who live their lives out of love more fully than a lot more church-going Christians, etc.
I believe in another place. It's not far away... like a membrane in time and space, and it's 100% LOVE. The good we do here can only enhance this earth. It will not gain anyone purchase into Country Club Heaven, nor will non-believers be denied access. This is the agape love Jesus taught, Buddah teaches, Dr. King, Gandhi... Beautifully formed poem, my dear. Amy
Death is only a beginning...
ReplyDeleteOf rebirth or maybe mere freedom!
It's a question of getting peace of mind in a cruel world. Atheist or believers will always find common ground to contain remorse and revelation in their own ways. Nicely Sumana
ReplyDeleteHank
you have written so eloquently on a subject that i usually have trouble addressing without offending someone.
ReplyDeletethe truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter what anyone else believes, only in your own personal truth...we should all allow ourselves (and others) to be illuminated by the truth of our own inspiration and belief.
loved this!
stacy lynn mar
http://warningthestars.blogspot.com/
Very nicely written, Sumana. I liked the last part and how well you integrated Mrs. Mistral's work into your poem.
ReplyDeletePersonally I disagree because I am as Christian. If Christians are correct then it won't help being an atheist because they too will live forever regardless of what they believe. But because they are not a Christian the rest of their life is in Eternal Hell.
That is what Christians believe. We could be wrong but I am not chancing it for a carefree life here on earth.
..