Faith

 

Faith

  

In boyhood, I had been inclined towards

Philosophy—not as learned from books—

But drawn, perhaps, by inner nature and 

The things I’d seen and tried to understand. 

 

In most things, effort, when sustained, can bring

Some measure of success, unless curtailed

By Fortune or by willful acts of Man.

My own reflections brought me clarity—

At least in part—and led me, through my life,

To stay away from hatreds, mobs, and flags,

Be humble, faithful, and compassionate, 

Remaining heedful of the sentients’ plights.  

 

****** 

 

I went through youth, maturity of sorts,

And middle age and then what follows that,

With all the buffets borne, of place and time,

That leave us little space for thought and calm. 

 

And though my boyhood years and what I’d seen

Of all the misery that humans wrought

On others, who could still survive and smile,

Had lent perspective, still the clarity

 

I once had found became obscured and I

Was led to question and to struggle more

To make some sense of all the flux and strife

I witnessed all around and in my life.

 

****** 

  

And so, in dotage, I have circled back

To where I'd started as a wide-eyed boy—

To ponder and to labor yet again,

Untangling knots, within my aging mind, 

  

To find some sense, regain some clarity,

And be at peace to think and speak and act,

Not shying from the madness all around

Or that within, with faith in humankind—

 

A faith I’d gained in boyhood and throughout

My life, from noting kind and caring acts—

And courage, conscience still alive 

Amidst the carnage and the apathy.

 

2026 February 25th, Thurs.

Berkeley, California

 Notes:

These were some thoughts on: 

- the cycles of understanding within a life;

- the sustenance drawn from faith;

- and one source for this faith.