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Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, now living in Cheshire, England. I started to write poetry some years ago, as a hobby. I have enjoyed that new venture very much. My preferences are for long and micro-form poetry styles. A first book of poetry ~ Reason Without Rhyme, was published in December 2013. A second book ~ Fifty Seven Pebbles, was published in September 2015...I am presently compiling the content for my third book. Thank you for visiting my Blog... COPYRIGHT: The entire copyright and content of this Blog belongs to the author Eileen T O'Neill. Nothing should be copied, reproduced or hosted as per RSS feed by any other party. {This particularly applies to the USA company Feedspot.com}

Sunday 24 May 2015

Soliloquy of Faith....



In childhood it was belief with total innocence,
No questioning or instances of elders disrespect.
Simply, blind faith filled with the flames of fear,
Man-made rules sought to punish and ridicule.
Steadfast until reasoning raised its own doubts,
Infallibility was eventually placed on shaky ground.
Hypocritical men and women of the cloth exposed,
Stifling acts of cruelty and duplicity in dark recesses.
Pontificating from pulpits whilst traumatising souls,
Catechismal canon and doctrines have crumbled away.
Centuries of old habits hidden within terse teachings,
Modernised or erased to appease a fading popularity.
One now expects to set aside what once was mortal,
Sinfulness diluted or deleted has new celebrity status.    
Individually, seeking truth is a perilous consideration,
Perhaps a soliloquy of prayer returns more assurance.

©Copyright Eileen T O’Neill 24/05/2015

19 comments:

  1. In childhood it was belief with total innocence,
    No questioning or instances of elders disrespect.
    Simply, blind faith filled with the flames of fear,
    Man-made rules sought to punish and ridicule.

    The opening lines of the soliloquy really spoke to me.. children are so innocent .. their mind made to mold.. in which ever direction the adult wishes to.. "man-made rules" tend to ridicule us even today.. with their illogical reasoning.. wish that children are brought up to become fine individuals :)

    An excellent poem... as always Eileen :D
    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

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  2. Your poem takes me back to those days of "Pontificating from pulpits whilst traumatising souls". I like the idea of a "soliloquy of prayer", as we find our own relationship with God.

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  3. The power of prayers is unsurpassed.

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  4. there were familiar references in your poem here that made it entertaining to read. i love your views. totally understandable. thanks!

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  5. Eileen this rang true for me as we grew up in innocence and blind faith...now not so much....love the ending.

    Donna@LivingFromHappiness

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  6. Oh I for me it can never be that easy.. there are so many complications.. even as a child I knew that.. but its a lovely poem..

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  7. I do think this is so true. When we were young we had that blind faith. Unfortunately there were those who betrayed our blind faith & made us skeptics. This is sad in one respect, but in another it is not a bad thing that those who wear robes are more accountable. And yes, a soliloquy of prayer would be a good thing!

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  8. I do tend to think one's personal, private relationship with God is the essential.

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  9. I hope that now so many people in the clergy have been exposed, those who remain are more honest and can really help people as they should always have done.

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  10. I'm with you Eileen. A soliliquey is probably the purest, most sincere form of prayer.

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  11. relationship with god has to be personal, independent of any institution...

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  12. Seeking truth is a perilous consideration indeed! True that!

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  13. In the end you must trust yourself as the rest of the world cannot be relied upon.

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  14. One now expects to set aside what once was mortal,
    Sinfulness diluted or deleted has new celebrity status.

    Very true Eileen! One has to adapt to changing times. It is no more accepting them blindly to be shoved down their throats. One gets questioned every minute along the way! But contrary to sane thinking sometimes 'bad' are appreciated.

    Hank

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  15. Acceptance and recovery surely come from inside but perhaps those questions we never thought to raise will help protect future generations..childhood innocence should always be unquestionable...poeerful poem

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  16. Indeed, we were programmed in the childhood with no questions if it was true to our soul...~ never late to ponder about faith and spiritual connection...

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  17. Questions are discouraged when we are younger, it doesn't keep them from growing.

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  18. So true, Eileen. I think this is why, more and more, people are turning to introspection, contemplation, spirituality and communion with nature and questioning some of the pronouncements and interpretations of organized clerical entities.

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I appreciate visits to this Blog and any comments left. I shall always endeavour to reciprocate. Thank you, Eileen