My old Dad used to reprove me (gently enough I might add) for being "nihilistic". He was devoutly religious, a Methodist minister no less, and my rejection of religious belief must surely have upset him, though I found his accusation strange. It was certainly unfounded, for Nihilists broadly believe that morality is meaningless, knowledge is worthless, life is pointless and I strongly disagree on all three counts. (By the way, you might read Turgenev's novel 'Fathers and Sons' for background.)
And while I reject the rigidly literal and organisational aspects of most religious belief systems, I don't necessarily dismiss the moral precepts. There are a lot of sound ideas in Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism in particular that I think I've incorporated into my personal belief system over the years.
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| Saṃsāra, the karmic wheel |
I'll leave you with my latest poem. I woke up this morning with the concept for it rolling around in the brainbox. I'm not sure quite why, except maybe it was triggered by Anne's blog earlier in the week about Belief In The Armed Services, coupled with the fact that I'm currently reading an excellent thriller by Anthony Price, 'Other Paths To Glory', about something that happened during the battle of the Somme in 1916. By the way, Price's novel was shortlisted for the Dagger of Daggers Award for the best crime novel of the last fifty years. Anyway, here it is, a rather curious creation - and possibly not a lot to do with belief ! I hope you'll enjoy it regardless.
Whose Army Is It Anyway?
Bear with me, citizens.
I woke up puzzling this conundrum
though don't ask me me to explain why
or how my brain works.
What choice have I but to believe
in its mysterious ways?
We have a Royal Navy founded in 1546
by charter of the eighth King Henry.
That was after the loss of his Mary Rose
and all who sank in her.
It's known as the Senior Service.
I remember the cigarette brand
from my youth, unfiltered and so strong
our brains dizzied to the point
of nearly passing out when we tried them
just because they were James Bond's
sophisticated smoke of choice.
We have a Royal Air Force founded in 1918
by charter of the fifth King George.
It's the second oldest in the world,
a month younger than that of Finland.
Its motto is Per Ardua ad Astra -
through adversity to the stars -
though I thought when studying Latin
that Per Atmosphaera ad Astra
would literally have made more sense.
And we were mad for planes as kids,
spotted them at Heathrow,
assembled Airfix kits of the RAF's finest
and got a bit brain dizzy from the glue.
I even painted the ceiling sky blue
and pinned the models dangling down
as if they flew.
But here's the thing. If our fighting forces
are Royal by air and sea, why isn't the army too?
If you know the reason, please advise. And come on England!
Thanks for reading, S ;-)
6 comments:
I didn't see that question at the end coming. What a belter. I don't know.
I'll get that Anthony Price book.
You was right about England - Switzerland. Can we do the Dutch in normal time or will Southgate set up up like Critchley again?
I love the Tibetan Wheel poster, used to have that on my bedroom wall back in the 1980s. And your poem was fun. I don't know the answer to the puzzle though.
Maybe the army wasn't created via a royal charter? Just guessing. It's been around the longest I suspect. Did Cromwell found it? Regardless, I enjoyed your poem...and Per Atmosphaera ad Astra made me chuckle.
Your father would probably have approved of your personal belief system. I liked your poem and I've no idea why we don't have the Royal Army.
And there you have it, a poem out of seemingly nothing. You've quite the talent. I don't know what the answer is to the conundrum, but it will worry me now!
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