Being – Page 8 – It's All In Me

Imagine a world without Sin.
What kind of world would it be
If there was no such thing as wrong
And right was all that we could be?

There would be no one to judge us
No crimes we could commit
It would just be one big free for all
No forgive and no forget

The ones with all the resources
Could just keep on taking more
They could screw over future generations
And just forget about the poor

The ones who have the least
Could make a big deal about the scraps
And never work together
So they become each others’ traps

The ones who claim to love the world
Can live off self-congratulations
While seeking to stay in comfort
So that no one tests their patience

Politicians can flap their gums
Saying what we hoped they say
Then when they fail to live the dream
We all can look the other way

Pundits can make a million bucks
Just for talking out of their ass
Then party with the one percent
While claiming to be middle class

Religionists can live guilt free
Because this world is not their home
And those who don’t believe in God
Can create religions or their own

Poets can stand on the side lines
Judging what they see
Thinking while they speak in rhyme
“Please no one look at me.”

Hey, this is starting to sound familiar
Kind of sounds like the world we’re in
That makes it more convenient
Just to do away with Sin.

Everything is awesome
No one really needs correction
Who needs to think of right and wrong
When we have egos for protection?

I can tell myself almost anything
Then convince myself it’s true
And I don’t have to be responsible
If the enemy is you

This system is ingenious
It’s a win-win situation
We can make it a sin to say there’s Sin
Now that’s what I call Sinnovation

It’s the ultimate invention
And we all are benefitting
Even losers win in the game of Sin
It’s high stakes, but we’re all betting

Do you think it’s not that simple?
Well that’s just another lie
Just replace religious statements with fashion ones
And soon you will see why.

You see everything has a standard
A bunch of made up rules
And if you fall outside them
Certain tempers will get fueled

There’s a way to be from your town
Or be a fan of a local team
There’s even a way to be countercultural
All of you know just what I mean

You know because you’re in the priesthood
Of the standards that you uphold
Even if your standard is to have no standard
To you there’s a way that that unfolds

We want things to go the “right way”
Which is the way inside our heads
So when things just go the way they go
We think that they went wrong instead

Such is the way of made up standards
That we hate but seem to need
And that’s why we can’t be free from Sin
Without a true Standard to intercede

I was saying grace over my egg, cheese, and bacon breakfast sandwich one morning reading a book called Realizations by my friend Bill Guillory and I had some realizations of my own. As I sat on the park bench eating the sandwich in this little country town I thought about how mysterious it was that I found myself there in the first place. For a moment I glimpsed my entire life and then it hit me that I have been so many places in my life, met so many people, and loved so much. And yet there is so much room for more. Realizing this I committed myself to living with my soul wide open no matter what. That is where the poem below came from.

Soul Wide Open
From this day I’m gonna live with my soul wide open.
No matter how many times my heart has to get broken
No matter how many times I have to die and come back
Living less than who I am is like a train that’s off track

We’ve been taught to live lies, close eyes, be blind
Afraid to look within because we done lost our minds
But I just found mine, gon’ clean it off spit shine
From an eternal space now I choose to bend and break time

Forget about the past
Who can prove it anyway
Keep my focus on what lasts
And live to see the final day

Not the one that’s about judgment
But the one that reveals the Real
Where all souls open up
And we live the love we feel

This poem is for every friend who feels like they have to hold themselves back or are held back by chains to the past or fear of the future that make us feel undeserving of the love that is our birthright. Maybe you never received it from the people you assigned as the ones to validate or approve of you, but love is in no short supply. It is everywhere, because you are love. If you doubt it, I dare you to go to a mirror right now and say, “You are beautiful, I love you, and I am glad you are here.” If it is hard to say ask yourself why. If it is easy to say, you’re in a good place. If we don’t love ourselves how can we expect it from others?

You can learn more on the above statements by checking out the post Coming Out of the Dark.