-- Free Will --
by John Herlihy
Where would we be without the impulse of free will,
An impulse indigenous to us and remains with us still.
The imagination runs wild amid this vast field of choice,
A multitude of choices as both mind and heart rejoice.
With the field of choices lies a host of unwanted dangers,
Wrong choices with the power to turn us into strangers.
Leading down pathways we realize we don’t want to go,
Unexpected consequences that we never thought to know.
Our own destinies woven into the fabric of our desires,
The compulsion of wanting ranging within us as blazing fires.
Ah, the randomness of desires, asking who is in control,
Wrong choices feel as if they something from my heart stole.
There you have it, the consequences of human free will,
Some choices served as sweet nectar, other choices a bitter pill.
We stitch, we weave, we reach choices as meeting appointed,
The choices lay the groundwork for this sacred journey anointed.
All the hours of our days would be filled merely at random
The luxury of being able to make a choice would be abandoned
Imagine the journey of a lifetime without the element of choice,
A preordained life to be lived without receiving an invoice.
I for one align myself with the knowledge of the divine will,
Lending me its rare unique wisdom that informs me still.
I may be wrong but I never question the minutes of the hour,
Each of them and all the hours wedded to a higher power.
My will, your will, God’s will, who can fully define and reckon,
Without desires and resultant choices, nothing would happen.
The force of our free will bears the watermark of essentiality,
Thru ages, the interaction of human and divine will a mystery.
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Copyright ©John Herlihy
Saturday 22 June 2024
As you poem alludes to, we have choices and we often make mistakes in choosing one direction over another, but I've always been of the mind that tells me: that whether one determines it was a good choice or a bad choice, the only wrong choice is one you might make that has nothing to teach us. If we review our choices carefully, we can inevitably find a lesson learned, small or large, in most choices. Perhaps the operative word is patience. Rush is such a tempered word with its many speed variances.
Reminding your readers of the "choice" word and the way it can work is well worth reading. Thank you for posting.