When God's as Real as Santa Claus

November 27, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is gratitude, in honor of Thanksgiving, which falls on November 24.

Today’s poem is about whom to thank when you don’t believe in God.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

When God's as real as Santa Claus,

And temples are works of art;

When the Bible's living literature,

And the Universe has no heart:

One feels grateful,

But to whom?

When the ritual vestments of faith

Are seen only from outside;

And the strength to live in the void

Becomes a matter of pride:

One feels grateful,

But to whom?

When life seems bursting with beauty,

But everything's accidental;

When calling the noumenal "Thou"

Seems impossibly sentimental:

One feels grateful,

But to whom?

When death is an absolute end,

And pain lets one barely get by;

Prayer's a harmless delusion

And the solace of heaven a lie:

One still feels grateful,

But to whom?

This human urge to say thank you,

Unavoidably orphic,

Requires, just for a moment,

A Creator, anthropomorphic:

So that one can feel grateful

To Whom.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/santa.html . For more poems about gratitude, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/thanksgivingpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Gratitude.

November 21: Thank You for the Gift of Understanding

November 22: Gratitude, like Love, Is Part of Being

November 23: Thank You for All that You Have Given

November 24: Thanksgiving Is a Moment to Remember

November 25: Thanksgiving Is a Time for Giving Thanks

November 26: To Live Is to Be Prey

November 27: When God’s as Real as Santa Claus