Not Long Agao God Was In Residence Poem by gershon hepner

NOT LONG AGO GOD WAS IN RESIDENCE

Not long ago God was in residence,
and now that He has no abode
that's fixed we look for other evidence
than texts that once helped us decode
the many mysteries of our universe,
which started with a primal bang,
and entropy will end with worse and worse
disasters. Trying to defang
the evil forces futilely we fight,
we must rely on human brothers'
support for what do believe is right
and evil nearly always smothers,
though from responsibility some flee,
attributing to godly powers
the harm that's their responsibility,
but will quite soon the world devour.

Not seeing God in residence, we're forced
to use scientific means to look
for answers, since the ones that were endorsed
in various versions of His book
have been discredited by scholars who
have studied critically these works,
and found discrepancies in their worldview,
primary source of priestly perks.
That's why we turn to giant telescopes,
and find in the laboratory
the source of origins, expressing hopes
from science and not oratory.
As brilliant humans we have acumen
enough to see what once seemed odd,
explained so badly by these ancient men
who once ascribed all things to God.

In echoes of faith's long withdrawing roar
we think we hear what's transcendental,
though scientists explain it's nothing more
that processes sane men call mental.

Kenneth Minogue reviews two books on Roger Scruton by Mark Dooley ("Being Human, " TLS,3/26/10) .