O Me! O Life!
O me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill'd with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew'd.
Of hte poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined.
The question, O me! so sad, recurring-- What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer
That you are here-- that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
-Walt Whitman
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This poem by Whitman was in part what inspired the poem of my own a few entries down. This, and some of the words of my Romantic Lit professor about moments.
Walt Whitman is my favorite poet, if that's obvious already. ;-) And Walt Whitman is credited with this quote:
"I say to mankind, Be not curious about God. For I, who am curious about each, am not curious about God - I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least."
It breaks my heart that so many of those close to me are questioning God. Each time I hear someone tell a story about how a Christian hurt them, I want to take them by the shoulders, and beg them not to give up. I agree, there are many hypocritical Christians out there, I being one of them. But who among any of us hasn't said one thing and done another? As Christ said, "If there is one among you who is without sin, let him throw the first stone."
Of course, Christians sin. Of course Christians lie, hurt others by both accident and design, and of course Christians travel that fated road paved with good intentions along with every other soul on this earth.
But, friends, please--don't mistake my Christianity for a religion. My Christianity is not a religion, a book of rules, a list of who made it and who didn't. My faith is not faith at all, for I can't even muster up enough faith to fill a mustard seed. My faith is love. Love for a man who loved me before I was born, before this world came into existence.
No, I am not curious about God--I don't spend nights in agony, trying to figure out mechanics, or dates, or numbers, or theories. No, no, I only try to love.
I don't act the way I act out of fear or out of obligation. No, I try to live like Christ lived, because I love Him, and because He first loved me. "For there is no greater love than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friends."
Jesus: "Now, I do not call you servants, because servants do not know what their master does. No, now I have called you friends."
If I could sing my faith, I would sing like Lifehouse-- "You're all I want! You're all I need! You're everything, everything!"
All this, inspired by a secular poet. Yes, like Whitman, I hear and behold God in every object.
