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Then Again

Eric Obame

A fifteen-minute walk away from my house in Potomac
My parent’s house technically
Within a hundred feet of each other
There are a Baptist church, a Synagogue, and a Presbyterian church
I am not sure what the difference is between Baptist and Presbyterian
I was baptized again, when we came to the U.S, in a Lutheran church
A ten minute drive away
But I am pretty sure that everyone in the bibles is Jewish—almost everyone
There is a Mormon temple visible from the highway, as I near my home
Mormons follow the word of Joseph Smith who I think says he met Jesus
In America during the 1800s
A thirty-minute walk away in the other direction
Of the Jewish, the Baptist, and the Presbyterian churches
There is a Catholic church
A fifteen-minute drive away, in Rockville, I think there is a Mosque
There is a Buddhist temple now a few feet away from my old church
I have not seen my pastor in fifteen years
All these different places of worship for all my neighbors
Can there really be that many people around me seeking peace and salvation
Value, forgiveness, or hope through the worship of some outside force
They cannot possibly see, touch, or know?
Are there really that many people around today who still follow the words
Of simple, unscientific men—peasants—male chauvinists
Who lived millennia ago—a millennium ago—hundreds of years ago?
Then again, maybe they are right and I am the one who is lost
No, I am not a sheep, and I seek no shepherd—Then again
I suppose that faith is one thing that separates us from the other animals
Faith can provide comfort, strength and hope, even when all is going wrong
Even when life is spinning into chaos
Even when tragedy and adversity pile on
A common faith can unite a community or a nation of individuals
But being religious and being a good person are two different things
But having faith and not being a person who hates or kills is not one thing
Even today, soldiers marry religion with war—people mix guns with God
Even today some men and women base their hatred and intolerance
Of gays—pro-choice activists—people of other faiths—women, in religion
I am surrounded by churches, but I lost my faith
Then again, I still want to believe in a God

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