The Bear-Scare

Michael was a thinker clear
Who spoke of Man and Mind.
He was gentle, he had no fear,
He was good, calm and kind.

He saw the world as scientists would:
As rules and laws and reason.
All is Nature, bad and good,
Each with a cause and season.

Joy and sorrow, hate and love
Science can all explain;
What one calls the God above
Comes from neurons in the brain.

One night when Mike was all alone
In a camping ground somewhere,
Enjoying Nature and the Moon that shone,
He suddenly saw a bear.

He knew the bear was way too near,
He began to run and say:
“Sacred Nature I do not fear,
Yet now I wish to pray.”

“Oh God,” said he, “Please stop this bear,
Please exist, and do this trick!
I need aught that for me will care,
When I’m stricken with panic.

“I’ll even let this bear become
A praying Christian beast.”
The bear did near Michael come
And thanked God for th’impending feast.

“Oh no, oh no!” Michael cried,
It all did terrible seem.
From the bear to escape Michael tried,
And woke up from this terrible dream.

Now Michael felt much relieved,
But he’d learned this from the bear:
Even die-hard atheists oft believed
When they get a terrible scare.

[Based on a popular story.]

We’re Humans, All the Same

In the midst of pain and sorrow,
Let the light of joy remain.
When clouds of gloom surround us,
Let a ray of hope sustain.

When wrath and hate toss us,
Let’s hold hands and bow and pray
For the force of good to bind us,
For peace and love to stay.

We feel and think in different ways,
Each bears a different name,
But in depths of feeling and basic needs
We’re humans: all the same.

Thoughts on God

Whether God is or not a hypothesis,
God is joy and love and source of bliss.

The world has but a single Boss
Who sets our life and gain and loss.

God is not a spy in the sky,
Watching thoughts and deeds from up on high.

Music is one, but tunes are countless.
Icons are many, but God is formless.

Fear not the God Who is above:
For God is only mercy and love.

Rain and thunder, sun and sky
May be the only gods on high.

If there is a God, He must embrace
Saints and sinners of every race.

God said, “Let a Big Bang Be!”
And the world was born that we now see.

For something ubiquitous God now willed.
And the world with E.M. waves was filled.

Is God a He or is God a She?
Some think they know, but don’t ask me!

My Country!

This is my country, and I am so proud
Said a man in a voice that was too loud.
And another said, that’s of course true,
But sometimes I like to sing this too:

My country is much larger still.
I’ll tell you why, if you will:
Canada is my country too,
And every country old and new:

Mexico and Bolivia
Ecuador and Colombia,
Panama and Peru,
Even all the oceans blue.

England, Europe, even Finland,
Scotland and even Ireland,
All of Europe, east and west.
North and south and all the rest.

North African lands like Algeria,
Tunisia and Syria,
Iran, Iraq, Libya,
All the lands of Arabia

African ones like Sudan,
I can go just on and on
Alphabetically all the way
From Angola to Zimbabwe.

Mine is Russia and Armenia
Nepal, Bhutan and India,
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan
Israel and also Pakistan.

Two Koreas and Japan
Mainland China and Taiwan,
Australia and New Zealand
Even Iceland and Greenland.

My country is large, it even lies
Beyond land and water, over the skies.
Includes Mars, Venus and Saturn
No matter where in space you turn.

Sun and stars and the Milky Way
Far and near, whatever you say.
I claim all these as mine in verse,
‘Cause I was born in the Universe.

My problem is: With all this might
I’ve no foe with whom to fight.
This World is My World
This World is Your World,
From the South and North Pole
To the Universe as a Whole,
I claim all these as mine in verse,
‘Cause I was born in the Universe.

Grand Religion

Some say it was Krishna
Who came to save and please us.
Some think it was Buddha,
Yet others that it was Jesus.

Some say the Laws of Conduct,
To Moses God had said.
Some that God had spoken
To only Prophet Mohammed.

Like the frog which was certain
That its pond was all the sea,
Every one is slightly right
As far as he does see.

Our sun is surely brilliant:
None can this deny.
But does it make much sense to say
There’s naught else in the sky?

If religious frogs just jump out
Into the big, big sea,
They’ll know there’s much more
To religious ecstasy!

Religions are volcanoes:
Powerful sure they are.
But they come from a deeper Source
That’s grander, oh by far.