A Thousand Dimensions, Ukraine Dispatches, Journal, THE WAR IN UKRAINEKenneth WebbJuly 04, 2024What is Life?, John Murphy, John Murphy’s Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor) super extended version, Frau Rita Schneeweiß, AtD 60

Life is the Beauty of Freedom (An Indirect Ukraine Dispatch 29) Revised Version

A Thousand Dimensions

Life is the Beauty of Freedom

(In Indirect Ukraine Dispatch 29)

Revised Version

Written on 6 September 2015 in Gloucestershire, it is dedicated to Frau Rita Schneeweiß in traversing the heights and depths, in conquering all, as we rebuild bridges where bridges have fallen or been knocked down, building bridges where none before existed, rebuilding bridges destroyed by tyrants.

We used to think that this last was a thing of the past. We hoped so, although our generation was aware that this might be wishful thinking.

It is a peculiar thing, but the older one gets, so does the reality that human nature remains static and even happy to go into reverse, reaching back to the black hole from which darkness loves to hide.

Vladimir Putin has bludgeoned us all.

We step forward, confident, sprightly, for we have overcome, and will overcome, all!

We are just thankful that the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine are waging a war upon a man failed to even see, et alone comprehend, his enfeebled, closeted KGB-FSB-Kremlin mindset.

This poem was inspired while listening to this extended version of John Murphy’s Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor) super extended version

an hour ago

This link is the short version

… And do that which, at life’s end,
we can say with grace and humility
We did what we were expected to do!
We lived, we loved; we set an example
and we have that unspoken faith and confidence
that we recall from
long distant schooldays
*
And this is the confidence that we have in Him
That we do according to His will
And if we know that we do his will
then we know that we have the confidence
that he has reposed in us
as it is written [i]

Und das ist die Freudigkeit, die wir haben zu ihm,
daß, so wir etwas bitten nach seinem Willen,
so hört er uns.
Und so wir wissen, daß er uns hört,
was wir bitten, so wissen wir,
daß wir die Bitte haben,
die wir von ihm gebeten haben. [ii]

WHAT is Life?

It is the beauty of freedom

It is the awareness of our source

It is the realisation that regardless

of religion and ideology,

we do have a source …

The Source

Life beyond our imagination

A cycle of seasons never-ending

A realisation that whatever

the sacred text we read,

whatever its source,

It is but a poor substitute

to the witnessing of The Spirit

to our spirit

The awakening of our soul …

Everlasting

Indestructible

LIFE is in our love for each other

In every aspect of Creation

Love, for the utter incredulity

and magnificence of the Universe

The Heavens stretched out way above

and before us,

and even deep into the Oceans

where darkness abides,

but not the darkness of evil,

the darkness of light ordinarily impenetrable

but which is now opening up to us

even subterranean oceans,

beholding species we never knew existed,

bringing to us ever greater evidence

of some Superior Intelligence

of which our own is a very poor reflection

in a mirror

but nevertheless true

LIFE is in the act of forgiveness

LIFE is in stretching out the hand of friendship

LIFE is in not walking by on the other side

LIFE is in assisting in whatever way we can

those who have by misfortune

suffered war, insurrection and famine,

suffered the most horrific wars

suffered the most horrific acts of barbarism

suffered the horror of terrorism

suffered evil by deluded hands who

scream that it is the victim who is evil

LIFE determines to “rid the world

of this brute oppression, tyranny and fear” [iii]

… Yes, such evil as has ever

corrupted the human breast.” [iv]

LIFE is in the beauty of the day

The Sunrise

The Sunset

The Rolling Oceans

The Plains and Mountain Ranges

LIFE is in The Spirit

moving across the deserted places

laid waste by twisted minds

LIFE is in the mobilisation of Forces

to defend Freedom

to fight for what we have and love

to resist the horror of perverted

religious or political ideology,

and those who seek to propagate such hatred

Freedom

AND having done so,

to be magnanimous in victory

to learn from our past mistakes

to rebuild civilisation on the basis of

Freedom for all

Freedom from slavery

Freedom from child abuse

Freedom from sexual abuse

Freedom from female genital mutilation

Freedom from misogyny

Freedom of education for all

regardless of gender

Freedom regardless of sexuality

Freedom to love

Freedom to speak

Freedom to hold each other

Freedom to accept all Genders

Freedom to LIVE

This freedom is innate within every being

It stands out in sacred texts

It stands within the hearts of those

who seek no need for theism

Just as GOD stands outside ‘time’

Where do we find God?

However we perceive this

Intelligence?

From within our hearts

I do not see as man sees

I look upon the heart

Not upon the outward appearance

HERE IS LIFE!

Life is in Theism and Atheism

It is subordinate writing

that seeks to emulate that famous line

I will be like the Most High

I will ascend above the very stars of heaven [v]

But that is just a man or woman writing

with humankind’s perception

Freedom is to stand true

and to stand firm

Firm, when all around us are down

we remain standing and still stand [vi]

And Freedom grants us the

ability and desire

to converse

to negotiate

to seek the common good

to live and let live

to love and let love

to banish dark entities

to make it clear that freedom

has a price tag

A line beyond which freedom will not permit

humankind to transgress

A Red Line

Such transgression is too awful to contemplate

for as it is written,

It is a terrible thing

to fall into the Hands

of the Living GOD [vii]

Für immer ist das Höhere

Selah

Let us, therefore, step forward

with Faith

with Hope

with Determination

with Confidence

With Forbearance

With Perseverance

With Patience

With LOVE

Finis

Author Note

This poem was written on 6 September 2015 in Gloucestershire, although my home was still in Liverpool and to which I would regularly return.

Footnotes

[i] these are the words I learned at primary school and I have always presumed that they were from the Authorised Version, and seem very loosely to dovetail or reflect 1 John 5: 14-15 KJV and NKJV (the author)
[ii] 1Johannes 5: 14-15 Lutheran Bibel
[iii] Speech by Winston Churchill 1940 following the Fall of France
[iv] ibid
[v] Isaiah 14:13-15 KJV
[vi] Psalm 91: 7
[vii] Hebrews 10: 31

Last published 25 October 2022

Kenneth Webb

Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.

He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.

Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.

In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.