Hard to Comprehend
By John Herlihy

Why is it hard for people to comprehend,
That an all-knowing God lives in eternity without end.
We pride ourselves on knowing our business at hand;
We fortify ourselves with knowledge all turmoil to withstand.
We don’t like to think there is something we don’t know;
When we see the black bird cawing, we know it is a crow.
The mother knows instinctively the loving kindness a baby needs;
A child accepts without question the tenderness that love breeds.
The knowledge we attain steadily accumulates over the years;
We use it as protection and to safeguard ourselves against our fears.

Fear of the unknown lingers at our edges with the intensity of lust,
Unnatural cravings to unhinge us with fears that life on us thrusts.
Still, the mystery of the unseen comes dressed in visible attire,
The signs and symbols of nature the human mind to inspire.
When we see a bumble-bee buzzing, we know that it will sting;
When the church bell sways, we know the sound of its ring.
When we come across the intricate delicacy of the spider’s web,
A wave washes over our heart as if a miracle has been bled.
In hushed whispers, all of nature sings a hymn that is secret;
Nothing you say can change her mind, ever faithful to keep it.

Again, I repeat, why is it hard for us to believe in the all-knowing God,
Who with hints and clues and suggestions attempts our desire to prod.
Desire that seeks to discover knowledge that extends beyond our limits,
Far beyond our own limited horizon where we sit and count the minutes.
Minutes that make up our days, our years, the full span of our fleeting lives;
Our eternity reduced to minutes and hours the earth experience contrives.
If eternity can reduce the minutes and hours to the dust heap of future past,
Why not aspire to a set of principles our knowledge of the world to outlast.
Why not dip our toes into the universe and wade willingly among the stars?
We may come to the realization of what lies well beyond the planet Mars.

However, nothing is going to happen without the decisions of free will;
Decisions that humanity is forced to make that can taste like a bitter pill.
I say bitter because some decisions lead us wrongly down another way,
In a direction that is opposite to the destination for which I willingly pay.
You know the rules of the game here on earth, the stakes you understand.
Are you then going to accuse God of knowing too much as a reprimand?
Go ahead, take the plunge, accept full responsibility for what you command;
Whatever you accomplish in life has been done by your own kingly hand.
God’s knowing things in advance does not preclude your free will decision;
You make up your mind, shape your own destiny, and all with deft precision.