RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS


by Larry Goldberg


This time of year
I think of religious holidays
Celebrated round the world
Of their limitations and their worth.

I think of Chosen People
Of proclaimers of exclusive teachers
Of warriors for Allah
And of those who seek escape
From the worlds of desire and attachment.
I think of peoples single-minded
Possessed by right answers
Defended in endless conflict
With one another.

But I also think of the One God
Of Jews, Christians, and Moslems
The God of all times and cultures
Who counsels love of all our neighbors
And demands our surrender to the Source
Of all our love.

I think of the Endless Flow of Buddhists
Married with the Eternal Self of Hindus.
I think of mystic realization
Of our oneness with the universe
Uniting with our efforts to make
This a better world.
I think of Taoist harmony
Facilitating and rewarding
Western progress.

And I see kidneys for the oceans
Lungs for the atmosphere
Biospherical brains made of computers
And hearts made of spirit
Endless ways of receiving and expressing
God's boundless love.