More folk need to learn About Cause and Effect Respecting others Is fundamentally what earns respect
My dad was raised Christian Episcopalian But left No disrespect He just wasn't convinced
So when I was a child Our attendance at church was sporadic Sometimes a source of contention And, usually, more pain than joy
The summer of 1969 Men walked on the Moon And my parents Split My dad moved across town I saw him one day each weekend The most time we had ever spent together.
When I was twelve the earth moved Sixty-four people died And my father embraced Buddhism And Buddhism embraced him In a way nothing else ever had and he learned moderation Regaining his freedom
What got him was the Law of Causation Cause and Effect What goes around comes around The Golden Rule Unencumbered With the baggage from his past The philosophy of common sense His pianist's artist's teacher's mind Could comprehend Grasp and hold for good
My twelve-year-old mouth Would not be denied And so I one day announced That chanting Was simply another form of prayer A fact he acknowledged reluctantly but ultimately with humor and grace
And was it my father's turn to Buddhism That sparked my own Journey into Spirit?
In 1972 With Godspell on the radio I saw Jesus Christ Superstar At the Universal Amphitheatre Twice And when my sister joked "Let there be light" And all the lights came on Then she genuflected Before taking her seat It was only partly in jest For there was reverence in the air And a sense of the Eternal The foundation of the story Of every story Cause and Effect
Later that year I was baptized Before I realized That no church held the key For the key was within me As it resides within us all
More folk need to learn About Cause and Effect We are here on earth to Love. And respecting others Is fundamentally what earns respect.
6/7 July 2005 Approx. 2 AM
Dedicated to my parents, who allowed me to be who I am, rather than trying to narrow my choices artificially. I have read this poem in public but this is the first time it appears in print.