Two Temples

Crouching deep in thought in the cool dawn

the debris of millennia sifting through my fingers

minute by minute, year by year deft hands

unearthed and winnowed revealing

the glories of the ages. Memories linger.
 

To imagine such a magnificent edifice

a splendour in limestone, bronze and gold,

an earthly temple, materialized unassisted

to withstand the ravages of centuries

from mirage to substance. A sight to behold.

As if no great architect or draftsmen

fashioned the plans or guided the vision;

no stonemasons, carpenters or labourers

brought each phase to completion,

shaped and fitted with keen precision.

Intricate palmettos, ornate pomegranates

engravings grown on stalwart pillars

without the skill of meticulous craftsmen.

Brazen bulls, restive lions, winged cherubs

contrived themselves into existence no doubt!

Stone rose upon stone with devious cunning

without planes or levers, hammers or nails

as if temples are realized without law or logic

conjuring themselves into glorious reality,

grand illusions stand and reason fails.

Ruins are methodically scrutinized

inquiring the how’s and why’s of simple acts

probing the ancient mysteries

revealing secrets to the modern mind

the sense and purpose to each artifact.

In anticipating the reasons of temples made by hands,

dare we deny the principle of cause and effect

in the mind’s temple, whose chambers hold

the moral logic of life, riches of wisdom,

to those who labor and thoughtfully reflect?

Rebecca Stewart copyright 1998

It would seem that in our time, as in many ages in the past, people are willfully blind. Today, many have chosen to ignore the evidence, or to reinterpret it in an effort to deny reality. They are caught up in 'magical' thinking. And in denying the need for a Creator who is much more intelligent, creative, and wise than his creation, they are refusing to see the purpose in their own existence.