On Idols

Idols are both subtle and too plain;
The shrieking adulation of a star,
Some secret, guiding passion well-disguised,
A lethal, communal hypocrisy.

Worshiping goes with idolatry;
It is the act which gives our idols place.
The only ones who demand worshipping
Are Satan and perhaps insistent priests;
Otherwise it is an inner urge.

Subordinate yourself to things that you hold high?
A team, a lesser value, an idea?
Does Abba seek your worship?

No indeed.

Do I?

Not in a thousand centuries.

The very worst of results can be seen
In creeds and churches made to worship me.
Crusades and inquisitions and small thoughts;
Partial truths become oppressive laws.

I came to represent Abba as truth,
The One above whom nothing should be placed.
An idol is a human artifact,
Whether a thing, a person or belief.

The way we build suggests idolatry;
What we place first becomes our golden calf.
Come. Come with me to where Moses once stood
And heard the voice of Abba in the flame.

But he was not content to move along.
Who shall I say sent me? was his demand.
And Abba's answer is value's last stand.
First anger. Think of that. And listen well:
"Say, I Am sent you. I am who I am.
Say, I Am sent you. I'll be who I'll be."

All worship henceforth was idolatry!

You might say I am just an underline
Come to confirm that Abba is I Am.
Need you know more? You will not find it here.

Truth lies within you as the spark of life
Of freedom and of Abba's will-be-done.

Do not press farther, leave the apple be.
Accept the terms of life. And life itself.
Embrace the truth. Abba has but one rage.
And that is giving your worship away.
To serve Abba, give worship to NO thing.

Are lesser values worthy of your Yes?
They flow from Abba's being your good friend.
They are the values that the prophets sketched
In opposition to idolatry.

The words may differ but they coalesce.
Love justice, mercy and humility.
Bring lion to lie down beside the lamb.
No graven images, how plain is plain?
No murder, how obscure is that command?
What is false witness but idolatry?
For idol worship bows down before lies.

Ideas are idols, so are creeds and laws
When they are made the litmus test of truth.
Truth is between Abba and everyone,
Each living being on earth is Abba's home.

How can we stand against idolatry?
Value the mind and heart of all creatures.
Accept the sheer diversity of life.
Judge not that you be clear of the judgment.
And never see your own thought as The Truth.
Give Abba room to be Abba to you.

Ask, seek and knock and live in confidence
According every right to each and all.
For doing less denies that Abba lives.
Extend a helping hand to each and all
For this is Abba's will and Abba's wish.
And learn to live with what you cannot change,
For Abba's patience with us never ends.

Attune your mind to Abba, not idols.
That is the only value you must hold.
Without this everything is flame and dross.
But with it creativity has space.
And Abba's will may yet be done on earth.