WHO PAINTS THE SKY?
[By Julian Hancock]
Around the 1960s, they said that God was dead
And I, for one, can’t disagree with much of what they said
For sure the world’s a sorry place, with poverty and wars
And people all across the land are disregarding laws
But who, I wonder, paints the sky
At sunrise and at dusk
And who lights up the sky at night
For someone surely must
Who makes the flowers bloom each year
At their appointed time
And how is it my lover’s lips
Still taste like mellowed win
They said they didn’t need their God
That science now was Lord
And man’s amazing intellect
Was greater than the word
“We’ll solve the problems of the world
With rationality
For God, it seems, has never had
The capability.”
Pray tell me friend, how can it be
The sun still shines and sets
The sweet rain falls upon the earth
And forms in rivulets
And how is that day by day
Across the whole wide earth
Proud parents witness, filled with awe
The miracle of birth
Oh sure, mankind is very smart
We’ve made the atom bomb
And dropped it on our fellow men
Their suff’ring to prolong
Oh sure we’re smart, for can’t you see
With our technology
We’ve managed to maintain the level
Of our misery
But who, I wonder, paints the sky
At sunrise and at dusk
And who lights up the sky at night
For someone surely must
Who makes the flowers bloom each year
At their appointed time
And how is it, my lover’s lips
Still taste like mellowed wine
I BELIEVE
I believe the universe is based on harmony
In furthest star and smallest cell this harmony I see
I believe my task it is to tune myself to this
The harmony that governs all within the universe
I then create harmony, at first within myself
From there it spreads through all the world, to seek and find itself
I believe that each of us has power to create
Deep within are forces that are waiting to be tapped
I believe the powers within are there for us to use
In service to humanity, whatever way we choose
I believe as we fulfil our human destinies
We are enriched, not only here, but for eternity
This then I believe to be the task for human kind
To live our lives so beautifully that later we will find
In other rooms within the household of the universe
Exciting new experiences for us to traverse
And better will we be equipped to serve our destiny
Because we've lived our life on earth in love and harmony
I do not believe there is an everlasting hell
Hell is what we suffer here, when cosmic tasks we fail
I do not believe our destinies are pre-ordained
But rather do we shape our own through our divinity
I do not believe in devils -- surely they are just
Mere symbols to describe the aggregate of greed and lust
I do not believe mankind is biased towards sin
For goodness, creativity and greatness lie within
When man becomes frustrated, an imbalance can occur
Which leads to his destruction unless balance is restored
Our constant challenge therefore is to stay in harmony
Within ourselves, with nature and with our society
[This poem represents the lyrics to a hymn which I wrote, based on an original blank verse poem by the late and great Reverend Ted Noffs. I believe Ted's weakness was that he loved too much: life, people, and especially the potential which he saw in every child he "named."
And so he pushed himself, constantly, beyond the capacity of his human vehicle, resulting in a major stroke which left him to see out his final years as an enlightened spirit trapped in a crippled body and brain]
These lyrics were written in June, 1982
IT
Sing praises to the Spirit of
The greater universe
Who has created all the wondrous
Forms of life diverse
'Tis it alone knows reasons why
Things are just as they are
But through our faith and trust in It
We share It's vision far
We know not how, or why e'en we
Came into being first
Yet something deep inside us yearns
To quench the ceaseless thirst
The thirst for life, for love, for truth
To know, to do, to be
And that which drives us on our search
Is It, or He, or She
Beyond our reach, the stars, the sun
Pay tribute to It's might
Infinity of time and space
Reflect It's boundless sight
Mere specks are we, compared to these
Yet at our core, we know
That Spirit of the universe
Within us, also glows
It is our life, our mind, our strength
It makes us who we are
We cannot see, or touch, or feel
Yet know It's never far
For we, in essence, are It's soul
We share It's purpose great
To manifest, in countless ways
The fullness of It's fate
By Julian Hancock
[This hymn sums up my feelings about "God," and should be an inspiration to people of all faiths, and give offence to none.]
