A Failing Church

A church where everyone sits apart

May often lack a beating heart;

There may be a few who line the pews

Of varying shades of belief and views,

Who see themselves as being the church,

But none of them are in active search

To deepen their faith, much less begin

To sally forth and bring others in.

They want their church to always stay

Just as it is, for that is the way

They like it to be, with just a few

Always sitting just one to a pew.

If there’s no-one who will strive

To change the culture and keep it alive

Eventually as the years pass by

Attendance will fall and it may die.

Painting the Windows

Winter’s not the time to paint

The windows for it well might rain,

Before the paint has fully dried,

Making your efforts all in vain.

But summer is too nice to spend

Hours indoors with paint and brush

Doing a job which needs some care

And which you really shouldn’t rush.

So it’s a job that tends to be

Put off until another day,

Hoping vaguely that in time

The need to paint might go away.

More Good News Needed

Why can’t there be just a little bit more

Of news about all of the good things in store

For people now living and looking ahead,

Who might like to hear of some good things instead

Of the usual plethora of everything bad,

Which only contributes to make them more sad.

The Advantages of Music to Children

Music can provide a chance

For quiet, shy children to advance

In confidence and sense of worth,

As singing over time gives birth

To skills they never knew they had,

So that later they’ll be glad

The joined a choir which brought them out

And showed them what life’s all abut,

Being a part of bigger things,

With all the love and joy that brings.

Summer is Better

When warmer, longer days arrive

Everyone feels more live;

Gone is winter’s dismal cold

With summer weather taking hold;

And bringing once again the light

Extending up til late at night.

Summer clothes can now replace

The woollies that all must embrace

To counter winter’s damp and chill

Which are enough to make one ill.

But now that summer-time is here,

Nearly all feel full of cheer,

Ready to enjoy the days,

Strengthened by the sun’s warm rays.

Unfortunately, the time will come

When once again, days long and glum

Will be a part of people’s lives

For winter every year arrives.

Diversity

Many think diversity’s an excellent idea,

But though it may sometimes be good, it can induce much fear,

For people like to mix with those with whom they feel at ease,

Knowing they can be themselves and say whate’er they please.

Confident their values will be shared by all around,

Who have a common culture, through which they all are bound.

But when they’re faced with people whom they really feel they must

Be wary of, because unsure how far they can them trust,

Uneasiness, distrust and fear can very quickly start

Within a group’s dynamics, to play a major part,

As people tend to gravitate instinctively to where

They have a chance to be with those with whom they largely share

A common way of life and thought, for usually one finds

That is the glue that everywhere a group together binds.

Differing Attitudes

Some religions recommend

Their followers should just defend

Their own beliefs when they’re attached,

By proclaiming every fact

So others know what they believe,

And thereby hope they can achieve

An understanding which will draw

Those people to discover more.

Though they’re certain they are right

They do not see the need to fight

Or use brutality to force

Other people to endorse

Their way of life and faith in God,

To them compulsion would seem odd.

Some other faiths think differently,

As everyone today can see,

As every type of force is used,

With people murdered and abused

Appalling, to make them change

And their historic faith exchange

For something which they can’t accept,

An alien culture which has swept

Though their land and tried to force

All other groups to change their course,

For they see their sacred role

Is working for their final goal

Which by violence they’ll achieve

Of making all the world believe

In the precepts they proclaim,

For world conversion is their aim.