Wholesome Limericks about Unity
Limericks about Origins
Writing poetry about spirituality is hardly anything new. In olden times, from Hesiod to John Donne, almost all forms of art were intended to celebrate religion and honor the Most High. But Limericks about God are something less common.
Why should I write Limericks about God?
The other day I was chatting with a friend who happens to be a very religious fellow, and he said something rather simple that really got me thinking. We were talking about spiritual life and ordinary material life, and the strange contrast between the two. Material life, as he said, is very easy to talk about, but not so easy to perform. We were talking about the difficulty of running a business, compared to the ease of just explaining how to run a business.
But with religious life, it’s just the opposite. Describing god, or putting religion into words, is almost impossible. But living religiously, or in the presence of the lord, is actually quite simple.
As soon as he offered up this analogy, it made perfect sense to me. It also reminded me of my own poetry, because I’ve written hundreds of limericks about religion, spirituality and mythology. The limerick is a pretty simple form of poetry, and traditionally deals with nothing but the most lowbrow subject matter. But I’ve found it to be an easy way to talk about religion
It seems that matters of religion have become inaccessible and irrelevant to the majority of educated and cultured people these days, and frankly that’s a shame. While many of the most familiar religious concepts have grown outdated, the annals of world religion still contain a monumental treasury of wisdom.
For many, that wisdom is shrouded in mysterious symbols and allegories that we just can’t relate to, or that we don’t have the time to pursue. But a five-line limerick is just the perfect sized snack for the 21st century soul searcher. I like to think of them as the wheatgrass of religious texts. Instead of plowing through five pounds of fresh vegetables, you can get nearly the same nourishment from a quick, concentrated shot.
So I hope the following series of deceptively simple limericks might give you something precious to chew on.
Hallowed Ground
When it comes to what’s righteous I never can waver
So honor the sacred and do me a favor
Come take off your sandals
And light a few candles
The essence of silence is something I savor
Metaphysical Quandary
To believe in or not? It’s what many still ask
Yet those opposite monsters both wear the same mask
Like heads versus tails
The reasoning fails
Calling coins from the void is a far deeper task
Elusive Answers
Philosophers wonder and question and chatter
Pursuing the absolute truth of the matter
It’s there, I believe it
You just can’t achieve it
Like reaching the moon with a fourteen foot ladder
Pilgrim’s Process
Searching for God I took leave like a pilgrim
Asked in the churches and heard that they’d killed Him
Consulted the sages
And wisdom of ages
And finally arrived at the laughter of children
Murmurs in the Monastery
Admire the marble and stones of Saint Pete
These are the halls where we silently meet
Passing with patience
The arches of ancients
We circle the cloister on soft thoughtful feet
Outside my Window
My sense of my self has grown mighty mercurial
I’m ready to step out beyond the material
So drifting across
All the flotsam and dross
I bow down give thanks and invoke the ethereal
The Ladder of Paradise
Some see the light in a sudden event
Others arise with a gentle ascent
And sometimes we plummet
En route to the summit
But no one arrives till they’re utterly spent
Look Away
Thou shalt not examine thy god in the face
Vanish he will, without leaving a trace
To see him correctly
Observe indirectly
Reflecting through wrinkles and crinkles in space
Further Reading
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