Your Messiah Is Lost To You

your messiah is lost to you
Gordon Coombes
edited 2017

Your messiah is lost to you
in two-thousand years of ignorance
as a hundred thousand heretics are hunted down-

your messiah is lost to you in crusades and bloody jihads
the earth awash with the blood of the innocents-

your messiah is lost to you
in angry unforgiving sermons
as you harden your heart
against those who do not believe as you do-

your messiah is lost to you
as you pray to icons and relics
as you put your trust in brick and mortar
in churches mosques temples and monasteries
in hierarchies and bureaucracies-

your messiah is lost to you
in your never-ending spiteful debates
in your hair-splitting
in your slavish devotion to the letter of the law
in your worship of dogma
in your addiction to ceremony-

your messiah is lost to you
as you desire more than you need
as you compete with your neighbours
as you scorn those who have failed
as you belittle those whose minds are shattered
as you turn a blind eye to the beggars and the lame-

your messiah is lost to you in your arrogance
in your pettiness and deceit and your sins of omission
your messiah sheds tears for your loss-

your messiah is lost to you
as you try to turn led into gold
unable to pursue the true goal of the Alchemist-

your messiah is lost to you
as you accumulate facts
filling your mind with trivia
adding degrees and diplomas to your resume`
mistaking knowledge for wisdom-

your messiah is lost to you
as you forget to feed your spirit
letting your soul languish in a barren land
letting it wander in a foreign wilderness-

your messiah is lost to you
as you believe only fools and charlatans speak
of the invisible world of the spirit
of that which cannot be proved
forgetting each act of kindness
can be seen by all
if they have the eyes to see-

your messiah is lost to you
as you dwell on the emptiness of death-