These words were a lie
the falsehood of enlightenment
the self-made man an illusion
the stuff of smoke and mirrors, a canard,
as if we on our own are good enough
The words sound like Proverbs
on first blush, evident, our belief as Americans,
of purpose in life, perhaps from the Bible
that we somehow earn heaven, that
“God helps those who help themselves”.
In a land of thinkers, of revolutionaries
breaking free of an empire, needing their wits
their guile, to hide behind trees, rocks,
rather than being in the open
easy enough to believe
The concept might have made sense -
“God helps those who help themselves”;
but Ben was wrong; he missed the point
altogether wrong, not knowing God
His infinite mercy, His boundless grace.
We are as Adam, as Lot, as David, as Paul
doing that which we hate, living of the world
all of us Prodigals, not all coming home,
dying in sin; rising by faith, by grace alone
not by our hands, our intellect, our work.
By grace we are given hope,
our works pale in comparison;
Clay only on the Potter’s wheel
by His hands alone worthy vessels;
His sacrifice gives us life.
====
edited June 30, 2014
Ben was mistaken – v3
June 30, 2014
Ben was mistaken – v2
July 20, 2008
Ben was mistaken
Romans 5:1-5
and Sermon by Rev. Huntley Halvorson,
“Murphy Was Wrong”,
Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH
Murphy’s Law - “Whatever can go wrong, will
go wrong”
&
“God helps those who help themselves”,
by Ben Franklin (not the Bible)
Poor Richard's Almanac in 1757
&
other information on the source this quote:
All of my
poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved.
Contact me at Ray
Foss for usage. See all 30,820+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
No comments:
Post a Comment