Filed by Trevor at 12:35 am under Fightin' Words, Religion, UU

If there’s a Hell
then God designed it;
If Evil came to be
then She created it.
Was it part of Her plan?
You tell me –
pick one, though.
Is She all-loving?
All-knowing?
If so, then how did such a
MONSTROUS
detail
escape Her attention?

Don’t let me fry,
just let me die.

I am not sacred enough
to be sure
but neither am I evil enough.

I envy the world with no Hell,
for there is nothing that can be done
in a finite span of time
that warrants an eternity of fire.
A thousand lifetimes
a trillion, even
trillion times trillion
but never an eternity.

That’s their secret,
our fear held in an open palm,
for without it,
the bearers of the Cross have no dominion
over (me) the world.

It is the padlock on my chains.
It is my sentence.
It holds me fast,
stops the breath in my throat.

Tell me
which is the more loving of the two:
a world with no reward
or a world with no punishment?

Tell me
when did we stop concerning ourselves
with joy
self-control
respect
intelligence
faith
life
in favor of doing just enough –
just enough to escape Your wrath
while maligning those who chose
another route?

Tell me
when did our moral compass
reverse polarity;
when did we start awarding godhood
to the ones who deal hatred
like a deck of cards?

Tell me. I’m listening.

You asked for honesty and openness,
and I am the most honest I’ve ever been.
The cries of Your children are falling on deafness
on apathy!
Even worse
they fall on nothing at all.

I’m listening. In Jesus’ name I pray.

Perhaps things are
as Adams said –
perhaps God disappears
in a puff of logic.

I pray to You he is wrong.

But if they’re right
and irrationality reigns supreme,
I pray to You
that I’ve only ever been talking to myself.