At The Temple Of The Forgotten Gods

At the temple of the forgotten gods
Are gathered
Prayer books, hymnals, and tracts
Discarded by disillusioned devotees
Who had yearned 
For salvation, to be saved, or at least given a little insight
None of which ever came to pass
So the promises put forth to the supposed chosen
By the various exalted priests
Of the gods of bygone eras
Crumbled into dust
Much like the deities themselves
Who were denied much hoped for reincarnation 
Into beings of much greater substance
For the directionless drifters to admire and idolize 

Oh, the sting of rejection
And lack of zen
Burning holes in the souls like hot coals on a carpet
Leaving many with a feeling not unlike malaise
Along with a pronounced feeling of helplessness
In the face of the overwhelming tyranny
That comes from having to think, to decide, for oneself
And discovering that the lies were not simple ones
Forced to deal with a deep, dark truth
The nature of the matter being
That it was their own feckless minds
Their own insidious consciousness,
That created their faith in something external

Pay attention, cried the teacher, not all is devine
Sometimes the world is just another planet,
Thrust into a heliocentric orbit around a sun
The world is not the playground of various gods,
Intent on causing discord and unrest

In the beginning there may or may not have been
A lack of knowledge
However, now it is a stretch to beg that excuse
Adam & Eve didn't have the luxury of comparative studies
And certainly not the opportunity
To discuss alternatives with their friends and fellows
Just, as far as the record shows, a yearning to know
Of and about everything that the world had to offer
And whether or not the garden 
Was really where they wanted to be
Who knows, maybe they looked for a home on the coast
A quaint little cottage by the sea
Where, it could probably be surmised;
They could raise the boys to be less selfish
And a hell of a lot less violent

The idea of an ideal existence
Is not unique or exclusive to any one culture
And neither is the desire to live forever
However, that is not what really matters
When it comes down to universal truths

The world is wonderful place, isn't it?
It is indeed, except for the occasional strife

It does bear repeating, that; 
The world
Is a wonderful place


Especially at sunset