Poem: Young Spirituality

Young Spirituality

I love old things, especially old typewriters because they seem to have a certain “soul” that my Mac’s keyboard does not hold. I type a lot of my poetry on my typewriter from the early 1960s. This poem, young spirituality, is one of those.

This poem came to me in an instant while driving in Asheville North Carolina. I noticed a group of people holding signs and screaming with a megaphone on the evils of abortion and “liberalism.” Half a mile down the street was another group, this time marching in front of a government building under signs that spoke of the evils of government and the need for democratic socialism. Imagine this, both groups used bible verses on their signs to make their point.

That’s when it hit me; fundamentalism is the same disease no matter what side of the American congressional aisle we choose to fall.

One of my favorite quotes by Carl Jung is, “What we repress in the self comes out in the world as an event.” I think that’s true of religious fundamentalism. So often the soul simply fights and resists itself and takes it out on the world around it.

This is clear to me in all brands of religious fundamentalism. Christians (and many other religions too) have projected their personal issues on bible verses and use those verses to prop up their own fundamentalism.

To me the truth is simple, my grand idea is this: God loves us, we’re supposed to love ourselves and others. Those are the simple rules.

Those who have a constant need to resist something are often resisting themselves under the guise of spirituality. 

Speak up, take a stand, help the downtrodden and those in need of dignity, but leave the results to God while you work out your own salvation too.