Since God is Good and God is All, And All is God and All is Good, It follows, then, whate'er befall Must fall to my Beatitude. Since God in All is God Entire, And I'm in All and All in Me, It follows that I may aspire To be considered Deity. Since God is I and I am God, And God is Power and Power is I, Methinks it would be rather odd If any Force could Me defy. There is no matter, say the Wise; In man and nature Spirit reigns. I only think that I have eyes; I only think that I have brains. There is no sin. It lingers in The Concepts of untutored thought; And therefore to believe in sin Is deadly sin, as I am taught. There is no pain, and I am glad; For God is All, and Good, and so No pain could be, since pain is Bad, -- Yes, very bad! I ought to know! Belief in Pain is Very Wrong. Who thought of it, I wonder, first? And did it take him very long To furbish up the Myth accurst? [In the midst of her philosophizing the Christian Scientist is suddenly seized by a severe Imaginary Toothache.] Ouch! -- Fie! I mean. How weak I am, Thus to debase my sovereign Me Beneath an incorporeal qualm, An out-of-date nonentity! [Another twist of the illusory screws.] Oh, my! My Tooth! Ouch! -- U-u-m! I mean Alas, alas, my feeble faith! [Speaking rapidly, as an exorcism.] No -- tooth -- no -- ache -- no -- felt -- no -- seen, All -- God -- Good -- Mrs. -- Eddy -- saith! [The Illogical Unreality gets in some more of its fine work.] Ouch! -- Oh, those Drops I used to use Before I learned the Truth of Things! But no! the Higher Way I'll choose. Rise, Soul, on Faith's triumphant wings! [Further Imaginary Qualms, attended by rapid cogitation.] Behold, how flexible is Truth: I'll stuff some paregoric in: It can't do harm, as there's no Tooth; It can't be wrong, as there's no Sin! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COMPANIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON INEVITABLY (1) by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A BANJO SONG by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SORROWING LOVE by KATHERINE MANSFIELD IN THE GARDEN AT THE DAWN HOUR by EDGAR LEE MASTERS TO DISRAELI ON CONSERVATISM by MARIANNE MOORE |