A Random Thought Prompted by Genius (original version)

(Written whilst listening to "TIME" by Hans Zimmer and without forethought or preplanning)

Chapter One

Part I

To the glory of humankind

The beauty of creation

The beauty of the mind

The creation of the most incredible sounds

that we call music

The beauty of humanity's absolute triumph

over every tyranny

every attempt to self destruct

To Live and Let Live 

"Where there is life there is hope" 1

when speaking of the multi-billions

that go to make up 

what we call

'our' Universe

29 January 2019
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© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2021

1   Professor Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA. Here is the Genius.

Part II

Go on
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
step outside time
step beyond man-made boundaries
and work things out
you do not lose your faith by so doing

Indeed, it is heightened to levels 
that thrill you and extol you 
to ever greater quests
where there is life there is hope.

And that last declaration
where there is life there is hope is by no greater man but
Professor Stephen William Hawking CH CBE FRS FRSA

Author Note ~ 2016

I

When I wrote this on April 28, 2015, I was greatly moved by the Composer Hans Zimmer in the Soundtrack to the Score for the Film Inception, the piece being the track Time, and which can be viewed through YouTube and better still, purchasing the score through iTunes.

Also, when I wrote this I was rediscovering my faith, and since that time, it has become as strong as it ever was; perhaps, it is the strongest yet, for it is against the backdrop of a lifetime of learning, of mistakes, of misunderstanding religion per se, of experiencing the horror, unwittingly, of the wilderness, and then that incredible sense, spiritually, as one feels the sand and stone change to earth, the earth to grass, the rocks to trees and verdant pastures; at last, shade from the terrifying heat of the noonday sun, the sound of fresh water - living water - and an awareness of just how small I am and just how large GOD is.

We go full circle. 

II

As with the prodigal, returning to one’s roots is daunting, unwanted at first; but then deeply yearned for.

There is nothing to compare with the experience and the new perspectives we gain, by going to different places, living and working in different regions, counties or countries.

But that pales into insignificance when one returns to one’s real roots, one’s own country, one’s own shire, one’s own family, to see out the remaining years at a leisurely pace and determined, more than ever, to walk righteously before the LORD, as it is written, however, we perceive that Phenomenon.

III

Note well those last five words … however, we perceive that Phenomenon.

My upbringing is that of a Christian.

In the 1950s Christendom was still a term of daily use. There are many bibles on the bookshelf in this study, all belonging to family and ancestors. Upstairs, in the dining room - the heart of the house - for it is, more importantly, the archive room (dining is elsewhere) the 200-year-old Family Bible rests quietly in the corner.

As a family we were, and are, practical in our faith, and whilst I enjoyed Sunday School, I recall too my paternal grandmother often reminding me (usually because I was moaning) that as a child and teenager in the 1880s-1890s, the whole family was required to attend church on every Sunday not just once or twice, but thrice. Morning Service, Afternoon Service and Evensong. That shut me up!

IV

In the video in the Galleries section, the late Christopher Hitchins reminds us of the disappearance of the universal term ‘Christendom’. Hitchins was by no means a conventional Christian. Arguably, an atheist; yet a breath of fresh air is the depth of his perception.

My faith remains as secure as ever; it is, these days, simply free of all religious dogma. I look on with incredulity when I listen to those - in all religions - who have a literal belief. Yes, I can believe that the Crucifixion took place. That is why I have written WHAT? HE IS RISEN?!?

Author's~ Note 2018

When I wrote that summary on 1 November 2016, I was only just tentatively venturing into the challenge of ancestry and archiving family history.

Today, it truly does bring us full circle; long lost names become real again, letters are as fresh as the day written, and the sentiments in them as real as ever. The roots go deep, ever deep into the ground. The branches of the tree extend above as they reflect the even greater root system below ground so that the tree now becomes a great tree with the potential to become greater still. In all of this one's own character and personality develops and takes on perspectives hitherto unseen or imagined. Memories one thought had gone forever are in fact found to be lying just below the surface of the subconscious. We begin to truly see who we are, what we are, where we came from, and where we're going, and how the future will unfold for the generations that follow us.

7 March 2018
All Rights Reserved

© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2021

Chapter Two

Part I

I sit on the promontory
overlooking Cheltenham
the wind in my hair
my mind in a whirl
...of resignation
defeat and subjugation

I am still numbed
that my knowledge
of the Bible
equates to that of the devil
For in that one short comment
on the stairwell of that
greasy spoon cafe
to which I had been summonsed,
a lifetime of faith
seemingly lies in tatters

Such a charge means
that I can never again
speak with authority
by quoting Scripture

Some things are said
and can be taken back

Some things can be said
and can never be taken back
The damage is too severe

What do I do?
How do I proceed to publish
the fourth anthology
so much of which is based on faith
when there are those who would
charge that I do not speak
except with the authority 
of Beelzebub?

It is cold
The Future has closed down
Two days from now
I am under general anaesthetic
Am I to be consigned to Oblivion?

The chill wind warms
There is a shimmering

A Lone Figure
Ordinary and Extraordinary
On Fire
and yet the appearance too
of water gushing from 
the standing rock
of Psalm 114 fame

My vision is hazy
I am casting away my spirit
I am giving up my soul
There is no desire to remain
here anymore

Suddenly I am aware
of that ugly phrase
Its harsh reality
the spirit is broken
The soul is ready to depart

Part II

Your words, yes
but inspired by 
The Ruach HaKodesh. Perhaps?
keep open your mind to all possibilities,
all and any number of dimensions
and perspectives.

Consider Three-In-One.

You mean The Trinity?

… silence

Consider every dimension
Every dimension has its own perspective
Every perspective has its own dimension
Never presume each is one and the same

Should I take my shoe off?

No
I come to you in the guise
most comfortable for you to cope with
You should by now have realised
I rarely, if ever, show my Deity

Now I want to speak with you,
and so let us walk awhile

COME!
Let us stand on Favourite Rock
It is where you scattered your father's ashes
and that greatly pleased Me
It is also where I heard the groanings of your spirit
and I saw the distress and the elation in you
and I spoke with you
Remember the refrain?
Remember the lark ascending 
hovering over you?

I show myself in a million ways
and more besides

COME!
Let us sit down together
You and I
on Favourite Rock
Countless times you have met with Me here
You can no longer recall all of them
But for Me, they are ever-presentI see and feel you
I AM in you

I know you are perplexed 
The rejection by one so young
in place of another creed
The charge that your knowledge 
of My Word
is no different to that of the 
devil's knowledge

I know different of course
And do not pay too much attention
to lurid stories and fantasies
about the devil, satan,
Beelzebub and all the other names
by which the serpent goes

Sometimes things are said in My Name
that is, shall we say, wide, very wide, of the mark

We'll leave it at that
Suffice it to say that you are Mine
and have always been so
You are charged with doing My work
in your own particular way

You operate in contentious areas
and bring knowledge of Me
to other well-meaning but
would only see you as being evil

But your ways are My ways
You would very quickly find out
if it were otherwise

Now do not worry or burden yourself
anymore upon this being of the devil
For it is preventing you from
doing everything you are meant to do

I look upon the heart
Not upon the outward appearance
I am well aware of the many things you do wrong
but I am also aware of the 
misapplication of Judgment in My Name

Forget it!

Instead, live by your faith
The faith that you have developed in me
through your studies
through your life's experiences that
yes, I admit I have brought to you
and sometimes harshly
and as you would say
a rollercoaster

I have given you many gifts
Use them
That is My Command

That you try to perceive Me
as being a million times greater
than the way I AM depicted 
in Scripture
in religions
of all faiths
is neither here nor there.
That is between you and Me

Do not detract from that
It is I Who has given you the ability
to see in this way

I go now
But I leave with you
the words of Psalm 114
the Psalm that has underpinned you
for well nigh twenty years

And allow people to come and go
Everything is for a time and a season
With that young man, you have done
the work I required of you
now it is time for him to be assisted by others

He is no more on the wrong path
than you are
Perceiving Me is in a Myriad ways
Dimensions and Perspectives again
Yes, it is true that
I AM the Way the Truth and the Life
and no one comes to the Father but by Me

But consider too
how I define Myself 
I AM The Word

But I do not want you to restrict yourself
to one text, one set of books
because if you do you restrict yourself
and you impede your understanding of Me

Consider Me in all your ways
and remember that I AM with you
to the end of time

Now that is men writing
There is no end of time
I AM outside time
Good. At last, your are
perceiving eternity

Part III

I looked across the plains of England
and thought of Housman
as I watched the evening clouds
racing with majesty across the skies

...the lamps in England lighted
and evening wrecked on Wales

And somehow I knew
Who it was Who had been speaking with me
and that I am keeping to myself

But in that brief meeting
I saw dimensions the like of which
I have never before comprehended

I am at peace
I am vindicated
I have my work to do
in openness of spirit, mind, body and soul

It cannot be otherwise
People will not agree or subscribe
For me to desire such
is to tread onto that dangerous path
that humankind all too often takes
in its quest to make everyone
into a manifestation of itself: one creed
one creed only or oblivion

Yet these dimensions and perspectives
tell me a very different story
and give me a very different understanding
of that which once upon a time
I accepted as gospel, as the saying goes

The Gospels?
Most surely, they have their place and purpose
As do all the sacred writings
But when some writing is thrust in my face
’Read this. Be saved. Without it, you are lost!’

Then I see another dimension
Another perspective
A horrid book my struggle
Another one is the little red book
Yet another what is to be done?

Each demanded adherence
Total obedience
History shows the litany of death by billions
spewing from their ugly pages

Yes. Keep things in perspective.

18 November 2020
All Rights Reserved

© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2021

The Whole Composed 2011 - 2020

Author Note ~ 2022

Now and again, I’ll read, the last thing at night, something from church. It becomes old hat though when the same advice and the same sentences are trotted out. I become irritated when the writer tells me that there is nothing that I have experienced that Jesus did not experience; therefore, he knows all about whatever it is that is taxing my mind, and so I can just put it all to him in some Jeezy-Jeezy way. It drives me up the wall.

I want to say to these people … Get real. We .are talking about the Messiah. The Most High. Stop making me see him as “Jesus running around Galilee in a white nightie!”

Then I find my own way through the book. I cast aside all the writings that have horror and a vengeful god. It doesn’t fit my concept. And you know what? When the drawbridge is up and I’m finding my own through things and popping in and out of That Most Secret Place, life becomes so, so much better and happier.

Try it.

You might surprise yourself.

10 November 2022
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© Kenneth Thomas Webb 2023