PARADOX

My name is Man, the wisest beast on earth,
And in the cosmic order I am king.
Before the gods of Mount Olympus were,
I dreamed the dreams that brought them all to be.
Before the stars predicted human fate,
'Twas I who marked their paths and spoke their names.
Before the God of Israel, thundering,
Declared Himself Eternal Lord and King,
'Twas I conceived, within my searching mind,
The story of creation at His hands.
And herein lies perplexing paradox,
The cause of inner turmoil all my days:
Could I have been mistaken in my haste
To set myself so high above the beasts
And scale the heights to claim the throne of God?
Am I supreme in all the universe,
The only one in all the vast unknown
To ponder every cosmic mystery;
Or is it arrogance mistaken for
Wisdom with which I boldly shroud myself?
Is there a realm, as many would suggest,
Engulfing all that I perceive as real;
And, in that vast, unknown encompassing,
What entities exist beyond the veil
That think of me as vain and ignorant,
Regarding me as I regard the beasts?
And if that higher realm, in fact, exists;
And if, somewhere within, there stands God's throne;
Then am I but the Fool within His court,
My purpose but to entertain the King?

Al Swilling
senaa@senaa.org