The Picture:
Long and
long ago,
And
today,
And
tomorrow,
There
was/is a man,
A
thinking man, with eyes and heart,
And this
man went to a special place.
Lots of
people said that if you went
To this
special place you had to make time
To look at
a very special picture.
So many
people he knew had said
That it
was a wonder,
He
thought that he had better make sure to go and see it,
So he
did.
He stared
and stood,
And stood
and stared at it,
And
explored his mind and heart.
Then he
went for a little stroll
And
looked at other stuff,
Most of
which he liked.
After a
bit he went back to the special picture
And it
was still small and rather insignificant,
And it
did nothing for him.
When he
went back to where he lived
People
asked if he had been to see
The special
picture,
And he
said he had and
That he
didn’t like it and
Did not
honestly
Understand
what all the fuss was about.
People he
knew, who loved the picture,
Appeared
to think he was somewhat of a Philistine
Because
he didn’t like it,
But he
didn’t care,
Possibly because he was one,
And
whenever he went back to the special place,
He didn’t
waste time looking at it again.
The
years rolled by and the man,
As is the
way of things,
If you
are fortunate,
Got
older.
He
accrued some wisdom,
Changed
his taste in what he liked
And evolved
as a person.
He still
did not like the picture, though
He liked
it even less when he read
That it
had been valued at US$760 million.
It was both
obscene and absurd!
A little
later the man was watching the television,
Something
he did not often do,
And saw
a programme about women and children
Living
in a far away land where there was a war,
And they
were being killed and brutalised,
And many
were starving to death.
The man then
saw another special picture,
A
picture of a boy who looked as though
He had
just been released from a German Nazi death camp.
His situation
was truly desperate and
The
thinking, feeling man wept
At what confronted
his soul.
He ran
an organisation where he was lucky enough
To spend
his time with caring people,
And they
clubbed money and ideas together,
And
raised funds and awareness in all sort of ways
To try
to help these women and children.
And the
man realised that through the
Long and
exhilarating years of life,
As well
as a joyous heart,
He had
become enraged.
He knew,
too, what a hypocrite he was.
He was
enraged that one child,
One individual,
One incredibly
complex,
Unique
being with
The
potential to do things that no other person could,
Or think
things that no other person had,
Or see
the world in ways that nobody else did,
Was
going to starve to death for lack of money
To
supply him with the very most basic needs of life,
Food,
water, shelter and, as needed, medication.
And he
realised there was this blight,
An obscenity
sitting on his heart,
Pecking
like a gorging vulture,
That a
picture he didn’t like was valued by humanity
At
hundreds of millions of dollars more
Than the
never before produced,
Never
again to be reproduced,
Miracle
of a human life
Who
could be saved with a couple of dollars.
And he
could not square the values
With the
love and compassion
He often
saw in those around him,
But somehow
it must be so.
He, and
they, lived in a world
Where
things were valued
More
than people.
And then
he started to think about
How much
animals were valued
Compared
to things.
And again
he wept.
As to
his hypocrisy, it became obvious.
He gave
money monthly to various charities
And
worked often in his organisation
To
support the vulnerable.
Then he
went to the pub and had a drink,
Perhaps bought
a take-away and drove
His gas
guzzling car back to his well
Heated
house where regularly he threw away
Food
which had gone off because unused.
He knew
that as long as this was so
He remained
a hypocrite.
How did
his,
How did
humanity’s soul
Leap the
tracks and end up
On a path so dark,
Wanting
and valuing things,
But when
considering people as things,
Ascribing
little to no value?
Humanity talks a good heart and soul
But many
ascribe value with little use of either.
And he
continued to be burning with rage,
And fighting
to touch hollow hearts
Filled
with dollars,
Coated
with a thin veneer of
Love,
compassion and empathy,
Including
his own.
And so
he loved,
And so
he raged,
As he
tried
And
failed
And
tried
And
failed
When he
stops trying, the hypocrisy will have won,
So he
prays for his love and rage to burn bright,
And to
help him find a way to ignite
Love and
rage
In
others.
To value
the right picture.
