too :: prev :: next :: There is too much complexity, And too many try to make more. Too many trying to be experts, So they create mind-numbing complexity Out of things that are fundamentally very simple, And the world praises them for it. Someone shows intelligence. In greed for gold and praise someone else copies this idea, gives it a different name, and shouts about it, and the world praises them for it. Small, local, heterogeneous is praiseworthy. Large, corporate, homogeneous is scornful. Most are content. Few are not and attempt to subjugate those who are, and the world praises them for it. Knowledge is meant to benefit all, not enrich few. There is too much to know, And too many trying to make more. Too many trying to be experts, So they create things about which only they know, then declare all else obsolete, and the world praises them for it. One hundred billion have walked; Some were pebbles, some boulders. Their deeds, too, have made knowledge, With each spark more to know. Why must I know the whole of it? Why is my mind never satisfied? I am humbled by the vastness Of what there is to know, And the uncertainty of it all. And amazed at those Who carry themselves with confidence, And speak as if eyewitnesses. Did they perch upon a window sill And hear the words, observe the deeds? Or even more so, weigh the motives? They fail to see what role faith has in their lives. Everything we're told we take on faith. We learn to trust, we learn respect for age and position, and accept words more readily from those who are trusted. We trust the scholar Who examines the codex, And the author Who has written about the scholar, And the author Who is alleged to have written the codex; The battle between blind faith And skepticism Has pierced my soul, too. My own part played is there, too; A fingernail's width On the giant's arm-span. Mountains, and valleys, And many treacherous paths in between. Some valleys are dark and lonesome, Others are bright, warm and restful. Some mountains lift spirits high, Others are forbidding and insurmountable. In recent days the shadows grow long. There are still days of sun, But the threat of shadow Is increasingly encompassing the sun's rays, The force of the storm tide Makes it increasingly difficult to catch my breath, The moments of joy are drops quickly scorched In a desert of brokenness, monotony and confusion. There was a time when the bad was eclipsed by the good. Those roles seem to have been reversed. I believe in order in the universe; there is rhyme and rule to all that occurs. I believe in ultimate good; like a bad movie you keep watching believing the end will shine. I believe in commitment; our choices become our responsibilities irrespective of the wisdom of the choice. I believe the world's creator is one of order; the void left by rebellion against this order has created chaos and randomness. I see now through God's own eyes. One bee left the hive, then another. With love each was guided back to the safety and joy. But others flew out, then more, and before long there was no hope of returning them to home. So today we find an innumerable swarm, Each flying his own way, No queen, no guiding purpose, So far from home. Advancement, technology, social evolution... What we have now Is on average no better than what they had then It's only different. © 2009 (13 february) john r. chase
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