Heart's TempleA Poem by Andrew jamesA short story about our focus in lifeHeart’s Temple The old temple was
discovered From a time of
long ago No one knew the
purpose it served To the neophyte
what it did show Uncovering the
chambers of old Removing stones
from where they fell Finding objects
hidden for centuries And the stories
they could tell Centuries of sand
cradled the structure Who knew the
beauty it once possessed For time had
ravaged this temple And its beauty
remained nonetheless Above the stones
lay chars of wood The result of a
terrible fire No attention was
paid the ashes Nor implications
of something so dire Colored paintings
on its faded walls Told a story in
pictures unclear Of its priest and
its purpose The tenets its
religion held dear But no one knew
the language Nor the meaning in
each picture there Showing little
interest in the stories Now the people
just seemed not to care Looking for
treasure of gold For objects the
legends did tell For the beauty in
each temple object Was in the money
as each one would sell When searching for
objects of gold Within the walls
none could be found No gold within
hidden chambers No coins to be
found on the ground The temple now
cleared of possessions Now no objects to
lie on the ground No longer would
neophyte enter Within no longer a
sound But the pictures
still told a story The reason the
building stood there In a time long
removed from our own When once the
people did care In a time long ago
of the heart Symbols would tell
the whole story The people would
live with their God Their spirit
reflected His glory The focus of
intentions were different From the time in
which we now live In ancient times
so long ago Love’s intention
is what they would give The temple once
stood on a hill They could see its
bright marble of white A fire was placed
on the alter So its glory would
shine in the night In procession the
people would dance To the foot of the
temple on hill Giving offerings
of love to their God For with love they
tempered their Will No one cared for
the value of gold Their spirit had
risen much higher The value of life
to these ancients Was to their God
to aspire But their children
no longer danced No more procession
to the foot of the hill Their focus had
turned from their God Love no longer
tempered their Will So their God from
this temple departed Leaving His
children there to learn Their focus must
be love’s intention Then to them their
God would return But their God
loving his children Could not leave
them alone to learn So He placed a
temple within them A place in their
heart they could turn They no longer
looked to their God They worshipped
what they could possess Forgetting the
glory of their fathers By their Will they
accepted much less So the children
built a new temple Placing it above
the old temple stones A temple to
commerce and trade To worship the
gold on its own This temple now
built of wood Their focus now to
worship the gold With greed the
temple soon fell All was forgotten of the temple of old Their creed was to
worship their gold They preached to
the lands of the earth The glory of trade
and of commerce To them a religion
of worth The people with
each waking moment Worshipped their
god made of gold They no longer
used love’s intention So the life within
all soon grew cold They turned to
their god made of gold Seeking warmth
they need to live Their god made of
greed and of lust No warm to them
would he give This god stood at
his temple Selling the fire
within the walls The people
following their creed Bought the fire
whenever he’d call No love now warmed
the land Each season the
cold seemed to grow All forgotten of
the God in their hearts Of His temple
their fathers did know Their god now
following his greed Asked sacrifices
for the fire he sold The sacrifice
demanded of them The love their
souls would not to hold The fire in the
temple of commerce Burnt hot in the
day and the night The people would
worship this god As long as the
fire burnt bright This god in the
greed for his gold Kept the fire
burning of wood Where forests once
lived in the land Scenes of desolation
now stood The people seeing
the destruction Would run to the
temple to hide Their god stood in
the doorway And entry to all
he denied So the people
stormed the temple Set fire to the
temple of wood Consumed by this
burning ambition The temple no
longer stood With fear the
people would run As the fire burnt
out of hand Their exodus
continued for days Until they had
reached a new land With each
generation now passing Their children
forgot their father’s story The temple of gold
now in ashes What has happened
to the temple of glory? Uncovering the
temple of old Will the pictures
now tell lessons clear? Will our hearts
understand their meaning? To cherish the
love once held dear Or will it once
more be a foundation For lessons not
learned in the past To worship once
more the material Of a religion that
never can last Both temples are
no longer needed Both replaced by
the one of your heart If you truly look
for your God This is the place
where you start You will worship
the god you see there The one you have
placed on his throne If it is not the
God of love It’s a god you’ve
made on your own Learn from the
lessons once taught Learn to love with
all of one’s heart Then your world
will once more be a heaven In your heart is
where it will start The temple now
placed within you Love’s fire must
be seen from afar For your God is
always there seated His temple is the
person you are So remember the
lesson here taught The lesson of need
and of fear Your god you
always will worship By what in your
heart you hold dear The fire within
may consume you Or it may shine as
a beacon to all With your heart
focused on love Your temple never
will fall The people you
meet will see By what you do and
the love you give Your true God is
seated in His temple Shown to all in the
life you now live © 2013 Andrew jamesReviews
|
Stats
126 Views
1 Review Added on December 23, 2013 Last Updated on December 23, 2013 AuthorAndrew jamesJacksonville, FLAboutI am a 56 year old married grandfather. I write what some may think of as poetry, I myself see thoughts written down in a some poetic pattern but not quite sure it is poetry. The meaning is what is .. more..Writing
|