“Five senses,” God said, “these I will give,

To the humans who on my new earth come to live.

To hear and to see and to smell and to touch,

And good things to taste. That should be enough.”

 

He went about making things they could enjoy:

Snowflakes and music and rainbows and joy,

Berries and cinnamon, blazing white stars,

And bunnies and bird songs and fireflies for jars.

 

He gave them blue skies and valleys and hills

Summer for warmth and winter for chills,

A lover’s sweet kiss and a baby’s first breath,

Flowers and moonbeams . . .  and no hint of death.

 

Colors and fragrance and honey and wheat,

The smell of the sea and warm sand for their feet,

Silky new kittens, red roses, soft rain,

And friendship and dewdrops . . .  and no hint of pain.

 

Handholds and warm hugs and smiles for their faces,

And richness and newness and infinite spaces.

Today’s wondrous gifts would be here for tomorrow

From God’s gracious hand . .  . and no hint of sorrow.

 

They bathed in the sunshine and shared all they had.

They wanted for nothing. What was there to add?

They frolicked and wandered and listened and ate.

They drank in earth’s sweetness . . . and no hint of hate.

 

‘Til one day a thought came they knew not from where

Who bound us to this place? Who told us to share?

We want something different, we want to explore.

If we take charge maybe we’ll have something more.

 

They drew up some boundaries and set up some rules.

They guarded their foodstuffs and trinkets and tools.

They challenged and argued and gave evil looks,

Marked off plots of land and laid claim to the brooks.

 

They cursed at their children, cheated their neighbor,

But had less to enjoy despite all their labor.

They ravaged the landscape and killed their own kin.

They turned from the good and indulged in great sin.

 

With no use for God now they went their own way,

Pursued sordid pleasures by night and by day.

They trusted nobody and cared for no one.

They endorsed every evil thing under the sun.

 

Death now touched each one of them. All endured pain.

Sadness and sorrow poured down like the rain.

Their hatred was thick and their families were wrecked

The goodness that once was there none could detect.

 

‘Til one day a thought came, they knew not from where,

Is life meant to be this way, hard and unfair?

Who caused this? Who cursed us? Who brought us such pain?

There must be a better way. This is insane!

 

They lobbied their leaders. They looked to their heroes,

They questioned their gurus who offered but zeroes.

They Googled and pondered and searched everywhere

For answers to fix it all, end the despair.

 

And God, as He always does, opened his arms,

And offered His answer, a rescue from harms.

But each one rejected him, each of them said,

“We don’t believe you. We think you are dead.

 

We don’t really need you. We’ll fix this, and plus,

All answers are stored somewhere deep inside us.

We’re smart and we’re focused, our theories are prime.

We’ve got this. We’ll handle this. Give us some time.”

 

God said, “I warn you, my patience wears thin.

You’ll never fix this, can’t even begin.

One day you will know as you drop to your knee

The answers you’re looking for all rest in me.”